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CHAPTER Xi. 194
other trees had turned away, but that of the Jambu tree had not forsaken the body of the Bodhisattva. Struck with amazement, exhilaration, delight, joy and satisfaction he hastily repaired to king S’uddhodana, and thus reported in verse the circumstance: ^^ Please your majesty, behold the Prince in meditation under the shadow of the Jambu tree. In his beauty and glory he is as resplendent as S’akra or Brahma. (1)
The tree under which the nobly endowed 18 seated, does not remove its shadow from the noble being in meditation.” (2)
King S’uddhodana went to the Jambu tree, and, seeing the Bodhisattva resplendent in his beauty and glory, recited this verse :
“Ts it a fire issuing from the crest of a mountain? or is it the moon surrounded by its stellar host ? My body is overpowered by the sight of him meditating in his glory like a lamp.”
Then saluting the feet of the Bodhisattva he recited this distich :
^^ Sinee thou art born a sage, since thou meditatest on the being of light, O preceptor, FE salute thy feet once and again.”
At this time some lads carrying sessamum seed made a noise,
To them said the ministers, “ Make no noise.”
They enquired, “ why ?”
The ministers replied, ‘although surrounded by the darkness of the world, Siddhartha, the auspiciously emblazoned, the son of the great king, the luminous as the sky, is engaged in meditation, firm as the mountain, and the shadow of the tree does not forsake him.”
On this subject (the following 64788) may be quoted :
‘In midsummer when the spring had returned, in the month of Jyaishtha, when leaves and flowers had bloomed in profusion, when herons and peacocks, parrots and mainas, were cackling, many were the S‘ékya maidens who had issued forth to ramble about. (1) 7
“ Said the Prince, ^ Chhanda, we shall proceed with all the boy to behold the country. What is the good of remaining at home
५ i । ५१५५ ८ ) Ab eos
194 LALITA-VISTARA.
like anchorites? we should go with exhilarating maidens in our company.’ (2)
९८ At midday the pure being, the Buddha, surrounded by fifty boys and a retinue of servants, without informing either his father or his mother, issued forth, and repaired to an agricultural village. (3)
“In that agrieultural village of the king there existed a Jambu tree with numerous large branches. Seeing the village and knowing the trouble of its people, the Prince said, ‘alas! that the agriculturists have to undergo so much labour in their profes- sion |’ (4)
“Then going under the shadow of the Jambu tree, in a humble spirit, he collected some grass and spread it to form a smooth eushion; and seated thereon he, the Bodhisattva, performed in ealm repose the four meditations. (5)
< Five sages, travelling through the air, came over the place but could not pass over the Jambu tree. Surprised at this, with humbled pride they looked about. (6)
“We travel with irrepressible velocity over the Meru, the noblest of mountains, and across the Chakravéla mountains but we have not been able to pass over that Jambu tree. What ean be the cause of this? There must be something here to-day ! (7)
^ Descending on the earth, they beheld under the Jambu tree the S’akya prince, resplendent as the gold from the Jambu river, seated on a couch and engaged in meditation. (8)
“ Wonder-struck, they touched their heads with their ten nails brought together with joined hands; they fell on his feet, and saluted the noble asylum of mercy. ‘ With ease wilt thou enliven with nectar all fallen mortals.’ (9)
“The sun travelled on, but the tree did not withdraw its
shadow, refreshing as that of the lotus leaf, from the Sugata, एप.
held it on. Devas by thousands, standing with joined hands, did homage to the feet of the firmly resolved one. (10)
CHAPTER XI. 195
< S’uddhodana, looking everywhere in his house, enquired, ‘where is my son gone to?’ The aunt said, ‘I have searched for him, but cannot find him. Please your majesty, enquire where is the Prince gone to.’ (1)
‘In haste S’uddhodana enquired of the warder, the porters, and every one of the household, ‘ Have you seen my son? where is he gone to?’ ‘We have heard, your majesty, he is gone to the village of the agriculturists.’ (12)
< Attended by many S’akyas, the king quickly repaired to the farmers’ village, and, entering it, beheld the auspicious one resplendent in his beauty, exceeding in radiance the light of millions of suns. (13)
‘* Leaving aside his crown, his sword, and his shoes, and joining in salutation his ten fingers to his head, he said, ^ noble is thy conduct. The noble sages of goodly speech foresaw that you had come down for Bodhi knowledge.’ (14)
< Full twelve hundred well-disposed Devas and five hundred S’akyas, who had come to the place, beheld the miracle of the Sugata, the ocean of merit, and acquired firm faith in the Sambodhi. (15) | ॥
%^ He, the Prince, caused the three thousand endless regions to quake, and, knowing by the virtue of his transcendental memory, acquired by his meditation, that they had come to him, he, the Lord of Brahmé4, talked with his father, rose from his seat, and started homewards. (16)
९५८0 king, if gold be required I shall (said he) shower gold; if cloth be wanted I shall bestow cloth. Whatever else is required, I shall shower the same, so that everything may be abundant on this earth.’ (17)
८ Having thus addressed his father and his courtiers and com- panions, that pure being returned home, intent upon doing all the good he could to the world following him.” (18)
196 LALITA-VISTARA.
NOTES.
1. To visit an agricultural village, p. 190. The description here seems to imply, and the Mahavastu Avadana says definitely, that the visit was casual—a ramble in the spring season. The Chinese version makes the occasion to bea ploughing match to which the father took the son. It says: ‘“‘Now at another time it happened that S’uddhodana Raja assembled all the S’akya princes, and took with him the Prince Royal to go to see a ploughing match (or field cultivation or sowing). Then in the enclosed space were assembled the half-stripped men, each labouring hard in the ploughing contest, driving the oxen and urging them on if they lagged in their speed, and from time to time goading them to their work. And now, when the sun increased in his strength, and the sweat ran down both from men and oxen, then fora few moments they ceased from their labours. In the meantime, varjous insects came forth from the ground, and flocks of birds, in the interval of the plowing exercises, came down in multitudes and devoured them. The Royal Prince, seeing the tired oxen, their necks bleeding from the goad, and the men toiling in the midday sun, and the birds devouring the helpless insects, his heart was filled with grief, as a man would feel who saw his own household bound in fetters, and, being thus affected with sorrow on behalf of the whole family of sentient creatures, he dismounted from his horse Kantaka and, having done so, he walked about in deep reflection.” (Beal, pp. 74) For the insects and birds the Mahavastu substitutes a frog and a serpent. The Southern versions make this the festival of the ploughing season, an annual festival still faithfully observed in Burmah and Siam, and not unknown in India.
2. He sat under its shadow, p. 190. The Chinese version, in com- mon with the Sanskrit, makes the Prince ramble about till he comes to the tree under which he sits down, but instead of making him go there alone, sends with him all his attendants, who are subsequently sent away. In the Southern versions the Prince is taken to the place when he wasachild, The Burmese text says, “ ‘The royal infant was brought out by the nurses on this joyful occasion. A splendid
CHAPTER XI. 197
jambu tree (Zugenia), loaded with thick and luxuriant green foli- age, offered on that spot, a refreshing place under the shade of its far- spreading branches. Here the bed of the child was deposited. A gilt canopy was immediately raised above it, and curtains, em- broidered with gold, were disposed round it. Guardians having been appointed to watch over the infant, the king, attended by all his courtiers, directed his steps towards the place where all the ploughs were held in readiness. He instantly put his own plough; eight hundred noblemen, less one, and the country people followed his example. Pressing forward his bullocks, the king ploughed to and fro through the extent of the fields. All the ploughmen, emulating their royal lord, drove their ploughs in a uniform direction. The scene presented a most animated and stirring spectacle on an immense scale. The applauding multitude filled the air with cries of joy and exultation. The nurses, who kept watch by the side of the infant’s cradle, excited by the animated scene, forgot the prince’s orders, and ran near to the spot to enjoy the soul-stirring sight displayed before their admiring eyes. Phralaong, casting a glance all round, and seeing no one close by him rose up instantly, and, sitting in a cross- legged position, remained absorbed as it were in a profound medita- tion.” (Bigandet, I, pp. 50/.).
3. Non-argumentative and rion-deliberative condition, p.190. Here, as elsewhere, the Buddhists have borrowed the detail of the Hindu Yoga tothe very letter. Yogis describe four kinds of meditation ; 1st, the argumentative ; 2nd, the deliberative ; 3rd, the joyous ; and 4th, the egoistic. When meditation is confined to crude matter, it is argumentative. When subtile matter is made the theme of thought, it is deliberative. When all ideas of argument and deliberation have passed away and the thinking principle is immersed in a sense of absolute happiness, it isjoyous. And when that sense of joy bas passed and a mere consciousness is all that is left behind, it is egoistic. These ideas have been worked out in a roundabout way in the text. For the details of these conditions the reader is referred to my translation of the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, pp. 17 et infra. The Chinese and the Southern authors have discarded all mention of these as too abstruse for the temper of their worldly-minded people.
198 LALITA-VISTARA.
CHAPTER XII. DISPLAY OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Consultation for the selection of a bride. The Prince’s choice. Search for a bride. Gop& discovered. A reception held by the Prince. Dandapani’s con- dition. Preparations fora grand convocation. The elephant of the Prince killed by Devadatta and cast aside by the Prince. Display of accomplishments. Caligraphy. Arithmetic. Gymnastic exercises. Archery. The monster bow. Other accomplishments. Bestowal of Gopa by her father. Gopé’s reasons for not remaining veiled in her new home, and the Saékya’s assent to her wish.
Now, Bhikshus, the Prince having grown up,! king S’uddho- dana was one day seated in his council chamber amidst a number of S’akyas when some elders of the race, both male and female, thus addressed him?: “ It is known to your majesty what has been foretold by competent Brahmanas and astrologers, what will happen to Prince Sarvarthasiddha. It has been said that should the Prince retire from the world, he will become a Tathagata, an Arhat, a perfect Buddha. On the other hand, should he not retire, he will become a king, sovereign over all, victorious, virtu- ous, master of religion, and lord of the seven jewels, and these are the seven jewels, vzz., the wheel, the elephant, the horse, the jewel, the wife, the master of the household, and the commander. He would have, moreover, a thousand sons, the noblest among heroes, mighty ones, handsome ones, and overthrowers of inimi- cal armies. He will by his virtue rule the circle of the earth without the aid of arms and without punishments. It behoves, therefore, that your majesty should cause him to be married, so that, surrounded by women, he may enjoy life, and not retire from the world, and our imperial race may not be brought to an end, and we may be respected and obeyed by all minor chiefs.”
King S‘uddhodana then thus replied to them—“ If that be
Wh. we {सी
CHAPTER XI. 199
your wish, what maiden do you think would be worthy of the Prince ?”
Thereupon each out of the five hundred S’4kyas there assembled, said: ^ My daughter is beautiful and worthy of the Prince.”
The king said, “The Prince is hard to please, and so I must enquire of him what sort of a maiden will be most agreeable to him.”
Thereupon the S’akyas waited upon the Prince and desired to know his wishes.
The Prince said, ^ You will have a reply on the seventh day.”
He then reflected,? ‘ Well known are to me the endless evils of lust ; lust is the root of all enmities, confusion, grief, and pain ; it is dreadful as the venomous serpent, burning as a fire, keen as the sword; I have no longing or desire for lust, nor can I rejoice in a female apartment, for I should dwell in silence in a grove, with a peaceful mind, immured in the joys of contemplation and meditation.’ Then arguing the subject in his mind, taking into consideration the facility of the means (for attaining perfec- tion), and maturing the end of truth, in great compassion recited the following Gathas : 7
‘‘ Lotuses in sacred tanks sprouting from mire‘ and spreading on water in their radiance, are admired by all. Should the Bodhi- sattva acquire the experience of domestic life, he will be able to place millions and millions of beings in immortality. (1)
%^ Bodhisattvas, who in former times acquired true knowledge, had all acquired the experience of wives, sons and gynacea; they were not affected by lust, nor deprived of the joys of contemplation, and verily I shall learn their merits, (2)
‘The maiden who would be worthy of me should not be a common one. She, who has no envy, who is ever truthful, ever vigilant, and thoroughly pure in beauty, birth, lineage and race, is the person to gratify my mind. (3)
¢ [ shall need the maiden who is accomplished in writing and in composing poetry, who is endowed with good qualities. No common, unaccomplished person should be fit for me; I shall wed her only who is as perfect as I describe. (4)
200 LALITA-VISTARA.
“The noble one should be endowed with beauty and youth, but not proud of her beanty; such a benevolent one should have her mother and sister living; she should be benevolent, and disposed to give alms to Sramanas and Brahmanas. Father, wed me to such a maiden. (5)
“She who has no ill-repute, no fault, no wickedness, no envy, no affectation, no evil eyes; who evinces no affection for a stranger even in her dream; who is always satisfied with her own husband, always self-controlled and careful; (6)
‘who is never proud, nor ill-behaved, nor impudent ; who, though devoid of vanity, is never slavish ; nor addicted to drink, lust, food, sound and smell; never begging ; always content with her own; (7)
abiding in truth; never fidgety, nor blundering, nor impu- dent, nor remaining demure in her veil; not eager to attend public shows; always devoted to religion; ever pure in body, speech and mind; (8) | |
‘never given to langour; full of prosperity; not deluded by vanity ; considerate, engaged in good works ; always attentive to religious duties; dutifully respectful to her father-in-law and her mother-in-law; loving her maids and dependants like her- self; (9) |
^ छल्] versed in the rules of the 8481788 ; expert as a public woman ; retiring to bed and rising therefrom before her lord; devoted to her friends; without deception like a mother ;—such should be the maiden, O king, whom I should marry.””® (10)
Now, Bhikshus, king S’uddhodana, having read these verses, thus addressed the family priest®: “Do you, great Brahmana, proceed to the great city of Kapilavastu, and, entering every house, examine all the maidens. Whosoever has these qualities,’ whether she be a Kshatriya, or a Brébmana, or a Vais’ya, or a 8111228 daughter, report her to me.”
^^ But why this latitude ?”
^^ Because the Prince is not anxious about race, or lincage, but about quality.”
CHAPTER अ, 261
At this time the following Gathds were recited:
“Inform me of the maiden who possesses these qualities, whether she be the daughter of a Bréhmana, a Kshatriya, a Vais’ya, or a Stidra; for my son is not particular about family er lineage ; his mind delights in merit, in truth, and in virtue.”
Now, Bhikshus, that priest, having taken a copy of those verses, roamed about from house to house in the great city of Kapilavastu, searching for a bride. Finding nowhere a maiden according to the acquirements of the verses, he came, in course of his search, to the residence of Dandapéni, a S‘’kya.® Arriving thereat, he entered it, and beheld a maiden like what he sought— a graceful, handsome maiden, of exquisitely beautiful com- plexion, neither very tall nor short, neither very corpulent nor very thin, neither very fair nor very dark, of budding youth, a jewel of a maiden, beyond compare.
The maiden touched the feet of the priest in welcome, and enquired, ^ What may be your mission, O great Brahman ?”
The priest said, “ The son of S’uddhodana, a prince of great beauty, bearing the 82 marks of greatness on his person, and, endowed with virtues and valour, has written these verses de- scribing the qualities of his bride. Whoever possesses these qualities, will be his wife.”
He then handed to her the written verses. The maiden read them, and then, displaying a gentle smile on her face, thus answered him in verse.
“All the qualities as you describe, O Bréhman, abide in me. May that benign and handsome one be my lord. Go and report this to the prince, and tarry not. He will not have to asso- ciate with a common person.”
Now, the priest approached the king, and thus reported to him: <^ Sire, the maiden I have seen will be worthy of the Prince.”
The king asked, ^ Who is she ?”
The priest replied, ‘Sire, the daughter of Dandap4ni, a S’fkya.”
King S’uddhodana then thought within himself, “the Prince is of lofty aspirations, and difficult to please. He has in him all
26
202 LALITA-VISTARA.
the qualities of his mother, and desires to acquire other merits. I shall therefore cause to be prepared As’oka bouquets® which the Prince may offer to all the maidens, and on whomsoever he will cast his eyes, her I shall bestow on him.”
Now, king S’uddhodana caused to be made a great number of As’oka bouquets decorated with gold, silver, lapislazuli, and many other kinds of jewels. Having got them ready, he pro- claimed by the ringing of bells all over the city of Kapilavastu that on the seventh day the Prince will hold a reception, and present As’oka bouquets to all the maidens of the town, and all the maidens should, therefore, attend the reception hall.
Now, Bhikshus, on the seventh day the Bodhisattva repaired to the reception hall,!° and took his seat on athrone. The king had placed spies who, unseen, watched on what maiden the eyes of the Prince would rest.
All the maidens of Kapilavastu came to the reception hall of the Bodhisattva in order to have his audience, and receive the As’oka bouquets.
The Prince handed the As’oka bouquets to his guests, who, un- able to bear the refulgence of the Prince, received the presents and quickly retired. Gopd, the daughter of Dandapani,! the S’akya, now came to the reception, attended and beserved by her maids, took her place on a side, and watched the Prince with untwinkling eyes. When all the bouquets had been given away, she ad- vanced before the Prince, and said with a smiling face, ‘“‘ what harm have I done, Prince, that you should deny me the usual courtesy ?”
The Prince replied, “ No, I have not been wanting in courtesy, but you were the last to come.” Saying this, he took off from his finger a ring worth many hundred thousands,!2 and offered it to her.
She remarked, “ Am I, Prince, worthy of this from you?”
The Prince responded, ^“ Pray, accept all these ornaments of mine.”
She rejoined, “ No, weshall not disadorn the Prince, for we will disadorn Mara.”8 Saying this she retired.
rs
CHAPTER XII. 203
Now the spies repaired to the king and said, “ Sire, the eyes of the Prince fell on Gop’, a Sdkya maiden, daughter of Dandapani, and he had a short conversation with her.”
On hearing this, the king sent the priest to Dandap4ni with the message that he may bestow his daughter on the Prince.
Dandapani said, ^^ The noble Prince is thriving in his home. . But we have a family custom not to give our daughter on any who is not an expert in art. We always select those who are experts in art. The Prince is not 80, nor is he proficient in the use of swords, bows, elephant driving, and wrestling. I shall give my daughter to one who 18 proficient in art. Please, report this to the king.”
The king reflected, ‘‘ Now, twice has this reproach been cast on me. When I said, why don’t the Sakya youths come and pay their respects to the Prince, then I was told, ‘why should we pay our respects to the Prince ;’ and nowagain. What should I do about this?” Thinking this, he sat still in sorrow.
The Bodhisattva heard the news, and then, coming to the king, thus addressed him, ^^ Why are you, Sire, in this sorrowful mood ?”
The king said, “ Enough, it concerns you, my son.”
The Prince said, “ Sire, it is meet that you should relate the particulars to me.” When the Prince had thrice said this, king S‘uddhodana related to him all the particulars.
Hearing them the Bodhisattva said, ‘‘ Sire, is there any youth in this city, who can rival me in displaying art accom- plishments ?”
The king smiled and said, “ Are you able, my son, to display any art accomplishments ?”
The Prince replied, ^ Yes, Sire, I am able. Do you invite all persons, experts in art, in whose presence I may display my accomplishments.”
The king, thereupon, caused a proclamation to be published by the ringing of bells!* in the town of Kapilavastu, to the effect that on the seventh day the Prince will display his art accomplishments, and all experts should assemble on the occasion to behold them,
204 LALITA-VISTARA.
On the seventh day five hundred S‘Akya youths assembled in the arena, and Gop4, the daughter of Dandapani, the S'akya, planted a flag of victory’® therein, saying, whoever will be able to display the highest accomplishment in swordmanship, archery, elephant guiding, and wrestling, to him this shall be awarded.
Foremost issued from the town Prince Devadatta.16 At the time a majestic white elephant was entering the town for the use of the Bhodhisattva. Seeing it Devadatta, proud of his S’akya prowess, and envious of the Prince, seized the trunk of the ele- phant with his left hand, and gave the animal such a slap with his right hand that it at once fell dead. Then came there Prince Sundarananda, who, seeing the elephant at the city gate and finding it was dead, enquired, ^^ who has killed this animal ?”
The crowd of people there said, ^^ Devadatta.”
He said, ^^ Devadatta has not done a becoming act.””” Then seiz- ing the carcass by the tail, he dragged it aside from the city cate.
Then issued forth the Bodhisattva mounted on acar. He
saw the elephant, and seeing it was dead, enquired, “ who has killed this animal ?” `
The people said, ^“ Devadatta.”
He remarked, “this act is unbecoming of Devadatta.” He then enquired, “by whom has this been removed from the passage ?”
The people replied, “ by Sundarananda.”’
He observed, “It was good of Sundarananda. But this is a large carcass, and its rotting will cause serious nuisance in the town.” Saying this, he put forth one foot from the car and, seizing the tail of the animal by the great toe only, whirled the carcass across the seven walls and seven moats of the city, and cast it two miles away in the outskirts. The spot where the carcass fell was depressed into a deep hollow which, to this day, is called the “ Elephant 0011077० (Hastigarta). Gods and men by hundreds and thousands, seeing this, burst forth into loud shouts of joy and laughter, and waved their clothes.!® Some Devaputras, coming below the sky, sang the following Gathas:
CHAPTER XII. 205
*
Since taking the mighty elephant of infuriated noble gait by the great toe he has cast it in the outskirts across the seven walls and seven moats of the city, he, the wise one, will for certain cast away from the world by the force of his wisdom, those who are inflated by the power of vanity.”
Now, five hundred S’akya youths proceeded to the place where other youths had gone to exhibit their art accomplishments. King S’uddhodana, surrounded by the elders of the race (both male and female) and attended by a large retinue, proceeded to the same place, wishful to behold the encounter of the Bodhisattva with other S’akya youths.
The first object of display was writing, and those who were most expert in it came forward : they appointed the tutor Vis'va- mitra as the judge. He, the schoolmaster, examined the exercises to ascertain which youth had excelled in the knowledge ef writing, either in the finish of caligraphy, or in the capacity of writing many kinds of alphabets. He then, smiling with approval on the superiority of the Bodhisattva in the knowledge, gave his award by reciting the two following verses :— _
“ Whatever writings exist in the region of man, or in that of the Devas, in the region of the Gandharvas, or in that of Surendra, In all of them the pure being is thoroughly proficient, (1)
‘‘Nether you nor I have ever seen the letters, nor heard the names of those writings in which this moon among men is learned. I declare, therefore, that he has distinguished himself the most.”’ (2)
The S‘Akyas said, ‘ Well, let it be that he is successful in writing ; he must now prove his knowledge of arithmetic, and should be examined in it.”
Thereupon Arjuna, a S’akya astrologer and councilor,2! who was thoroughly proficient in the calculation of numbers, was appointed judge. He was then told, “Do you decide who amongst these youths acquits himself best in arithmetic.”
Now, the Bodhisattva set a sum to aS fakya youth, but that youth could not work it, and was defeated.
a
206 LALITA-VISTARA.
The Bodhisattva then said, “ Let you put the sum, and I shall work it.”
Then a S‘Akya youth set a sum, but could not defeat the Bodhisattva. Then two, three, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty and even all the five hundred simultaneously set ques- tions to him, but could not confound the Bodhisattva, for he solved them all.
The Bodhisattva then said, “ Enough, enough of this dispute ; now all of you five hundred should together frame your question, and I shall solve it.”
Thereupon all the five hundred S‘Akya youths set a question with an illustration, but the Bodhisattva immediately and easily solved it. Thus were all the S’dkya youths overcome by the Bodhisattva. The astrologer councilor Arjuna was struck with wonder by this, and recited these verses :-—
“In calculation he has established himself foremost among these five hundred youths; he is sure soon to acquire perfect proficiency in Boddhi knowledge. (1)
‘Such is his learning and understanding, such his wisdom, memory and intellegence, that even I, who am_ thoroughly proficient in learning, should still learn from him.” (2)
All the S‘akyas stared with wonder and astonishment, and in one voice burst forth “ Victory! Victory attends this Prince Sarvarthasiddha [7 All of them then rose from their seats and, having with folded hands saluted the Boddhisattva, thus addressed king S'uddhodana ; “ Thou hast, Maharaja, attained the highest blessing, .since your son has so quickly, so readily and so smartly solved all the questions
Then king S’uddhodana enquired of the Bodhisattva, “Can you, my boy, enter into competition in calculation and order of reckoning with Arjuna, the astrologer councilor ?”’ |
The Prince replied, ‘‘ Let him proceed.”
Then Arjuna, the astrologer councilor, asked the prince, ‘ Do you, Prince, know the order of reckoning after a kotis‘ata ?” (Numeration table).
«५ [ do,” replied the Prince.
Ma.
१ द ~ ^ नी
CHAPTER XII. 207
Arjuna asked, “how should the order of reckoning proceed after a kotisata ?”
The Bodhisattva replied :
^ A hundred Kotis‘atas make an Ayuta ;*
A hundred Ayutas make a Niyuta ;
A hundred Niyutas make a Kaflkara ;
A hundred Kafikaras make a Vivara ;
A hundred Vivaras make an Akshobhya ;
A hundred Akshobhyas make a Vivaha ;
A hundred Vivahas make an Utsafiga ;
A hundred Utsafigas make a Bahula ;
A hundred Bahulas make a Ndgabala ;
A hundred Nagabalas make a {1 {zlambha ;
A hundred Titilambhas make a Vyavasthdna-prajnapti ;
A hundred Vyavasthana-prajnaptis make a Hetuhzla ;
A hundred Hetuhilas make a Karahy ;*8
A hundred Karahus make a Hetvindriya ;
A hundred Hetvindriyas make a Samdptalambha ;
A hundred Saméptalambhas make a Ganandgati ;*
A hundred Ganandgatis make a Niravadya ;
A hundred Niravadyas make a Mudrabala ;%
A hundred Mudrabalas make a Sarvadala ;
A bundred Sarvabalas make a Visanjndgati ;
A hundred Visanjnfigatis make a Sarvasanjna ;
A hundred Sarvasanjnas make a Vidhitafgamda ;*
A hundred Vibhutafigamas make a Tallakshana.*7
“ Were atoms cast off to the number of a Tallakshana, the mountain king Sumeru would be exhausted. After this comes the reckoning called Divajdgravati, and in reckoning it all the sand of the Ganges river, thrown grain by grain would be exhausted. After this comes the sum of Dhvajdgranisdémani, next to it Vaka- naprajnapti, and next Kurutd ; next to it comes Sarvanikshepa, in counting which, grain by grain, the grains of sand in ten river Ganges would be exhausted. After this comes Agrasdra, which numbers as many as the grains of sand in a hundred millions of
208 LALITA-VISTARA.
Ganges river. Even after this comes Paramanurajahpravesénu- gata.” Of this no comparison can be made with anything that exists in the world, except with the Tathagata Bodhisattva when having established himself on the top of the noble Bodhimanda, he is about to face the sanctification of all religion.”
Arjuna enquired, “how is the table beginning with Para- manurajas reckoned, Prince ?”” (Long measure.)
The Bodhisattva replied :
^ Seven Param4nurajases (subtile atoms) make a Renu ;
Seven Renus make a 7rutz, (a visible atom) ;
Seven Trutis a Viétayanarajas (a mote that blows in througha window) ;
Seven Vatdyanarajases a S’afarajas (a mote that is seen in a moon-beam, or that which is raised by the motion of a hare) ;
Seven Sagarajases an Hdakarajas (dust-grain on a ram) ;
Seven Edakarajases a Gorajas (dust grain on a cow) ;
Seven Gorajases, a Liksha (egg of a louse—a nit) ;
Seven Liksh4s a Sarshapa (mustard seed) ;
Seven Sarshapas a Yava, (a barleycorn) ;
Seven Yavas an Aftguliparva (an inch—width of the thumb) ;
Twelve Afiguliparvas a Vitaséz (a span) ;
Two Vitastis a Hasta (cubit) ;
Four Hastas a Dhanus (a bow) ;
One thousand Dhanuses a Kros‘a as current in the Magadha country (Indian mile) ;
Four Kros‘as, a Yojana (an Indian league).
Who amongst us knows how many Param4anurajases go to form a Yojanapinda (a cube of one Yojana) 25
Arjuna said, ^ Even I, Prince, am bewildered ; what shall I say of people of limited understanding ? Will you, Prince, define of how many atoms a Yojanapinda is made ?”
The Bodhisattva replied, ‘(In a Yojanapinda there are atoms which have to be reckoned at a full Niyutas of Aksho- bhya, thirty hundred thousands of Niyutas, sixty hundred thousand Kotis‘atas, twenty-two Kotis, five millions, and twelve
CHAPTER XII. 209
thousands. These added together make a Yojanapinda. At this rate the continent of Jambn includes seven thousand yojanas ; Godaniya® includes eight thousand yojanas ; Purvavideha nine thousand yojanas ; the island of Uttarakuru ten thousand yojanas. Calculating in this way the four continents of this region would amount to a full hundred kotis. The great oceans of these four continents also number a hundred kotis. The Chakravala and the Mahachakravala mountains” each include a hundred kotis. So does each of the following ; vzz., the kingdoms of the four Mahérajika Devas, the region of the Trayastriisa Devas, that of the Y4mas, that of the Tushitas, that of the NirmAénaratis, that of the Paranirmitavasavartis, that of the Brahmakayikas, that of the Brahmapurohitas, that of the Brahmap4rsadyas, that of the Mahabrahmas, that of the Parittabhas, that of the Apram4ndébhas, that of the Abh4s’varas, that of the ParittaSubhas, that of the Apraménaégubhas, that of the Subbakritsnas, that of the Anabhra- kas, that of the Punyaprasavas, that of the Vrihatphalas, that of the Asafigisattvas, that of the Avrihas, that of the Sudrigas, that of the SudarSanas, and that of the Akanishtha Devas. What is said is this. The three thousand great thousand regions are immense and extensive. Whatever hundred yojanas of atoms are included in these three thousand great thousand regions, and whatever thousand yojanas to kotis of yojanas, whatever niyutas of yojanas, and yojana-agrasé4ras are calculated, are all computed on the basis of atoms, so there are countless numbers of atoms in these three thousand great thousand regions.”
Thus, on the rules of numbers having been explained by the Bodhisattva, Arjuna, the astrologer-councillor, and the whole host of the Sakyas were pleased, exhilarated, delighted and wonder-struck. Each of these remained garbed in a single piece of cloth, and covered the Bodhisattva with all their other clothes and ornaments. The astrologer-councillor Arjuna recited these two Gathas :—
‘Such wonderful knowledge in reckoning kotis’ata, ayuta,
27
210 LALITA-VISTARA.
niyuta, niyutani, kafikara, vimbara, akshobhya and beyond them exceeds my power. (1) :
“But behold, O S/akyas, he has alone, by a single effort, given us the reckoning of all the atoms in the three thousand regions, of grass, of herbs and of drops in water. What more wonderful can be effected by the five hundred (S’Akyas) ?” (2)
Now gods and men by hundreds of thousands raised shouts of cheers and laughter by hundreds of thousands. Some Devaputras, coming under the sky, recited this Gatha :
‘Whatever knowledge has been acquired by the mind of the whole of the animated creation of the three orders, has been derogated, for has not all knowledge of calculation been stored in one being who knows everything ?”
Thus, Bhikshus, were all the S’ékya youths discomfitted, and thus did the Bodhisattva excel them all.
Subsequently in leaping, jumping, and running the Bodhi- sattva excelled all. Thereupon the Devaputras, coming under the sky, recited the following Gathas :
“ By fasts, austerity and restrictions; by mercy, control of the passions, and benevolence practised for ten million kalpas ; by making light his body and mind, he has become the leader. Listen to his excellences. (1)
“Do ye behold in this being, now abiding as a householder, the noblest of beings. He can travel over all the ten quarters of the globe in a moment. He has worshipped with gold and jewels Jinas without number, and in regions without limit. (2)
“You cannot know his advent and his departure, which proceed from his miraculous powers. What is there in this earth that cannot be performed by him, or which exalt him not in merit ?” (3)
Thus did the Bodhisattva excel all.
Then the S‘akyas said, ^^ Let the Prince now excel in wrestling. He should be examined about 16.79
The Bodhisattva was then standing aside. All the five hundred S’‘4kya youths at once rushed forward to wrestle with him.
af.
CHAPTER XII. 21}
Thirty-two 8.४ youths stood forward ready to fight. Then Nanda and Ananda went forward, but, on being touched by the hand of the Bodhisattva, fell on the ground, unable to with- stand his might and vigour. Then Prince Devadatta, vain, proud, mighty, full of Sakya prowess, anxious to encounter the Bodhi- sattva, strutting round the arena under thesky, in playfulness fell on the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva, unceremoniously but without any excitement, easily seized him with his right hand, wheeled him round three times in mid air for his punishment, and then, without feeling any enmity, with a benevolent mind, cast him on the ground without burting his body
Then the Bodhisattva said, ^^ Enough, enough of this. Let all of you come united to wrestle with me
Then all the youths in a body fell upon the Bodhisattva ; but, touching him, they felt his majesty, vigour, prowess and firmness to be intolerable, and touched by him they tumbled on the ground. Thereupon hundreds of thousands of gods and men burst forth in hilarious cheers. The Devaputras, coming under the sky, cast heavy showers of flowers, and in one voice recited the following ७4048 :— |
५५ All the wicked wrestlers in the ten quarters of the globe become as nothing before him. They are instantly overcome by the bull among men. They fall on the ground the moment they are touched. (1)
‘‘He can pound into तप with his bare hands the Meru, the Sumeru, the Vajraka,® the Chakravaéla, and whatever other mountains there exist in the ten sides of the earth. What wonder is there that sons of mortals should drop before him ? (2)
** He will, when about to attain the absolute knowledge under the noble tree, through his benevolence, destroy the wicked veteran Mara, the friend of darkness, with all his army, his horse and war-chariots.” (3) |
Having done this the Bodhisattva excelled all.
Then Dandapini thus addressed the S’akya youths: “ All this has been seen and examined. Let him show now his power in archery.”’34
212 LALITA-VISTARA.
Then an iron drum was set up as a target at adistance of two kros’as, for Ananda. The target for Devadatta was set up at a distance of four kros‘as. The target for Sundarananda was set up at a distance of six kros’as. A target was set up at a distance of two yojanas for Dandapani. For the Bodhisattva the iron target was set up at a distance of ten kros’as; and beyond it were ranged seven palm trees and a mechanical image of a boar, made of iron. Ananda hit his target at the distance of two miles, but could not send his arrow further. The drum at the fourth kros’a was hit by Devadatta, but he could shoot his arrow no further. The drum at the sixth kros’a was hit by Sundarananda, but he could not send his arrow any further. Dandapani hit histarget at the distance of two yojanas, and the arrow remained fixed in it, but could go no further. Then the Bodhisattva stepped forward, but every bow he took up snapped on the attempt to string it.
Thereupon he said: “ Is there any bow in this city which will withstand my stringing it, and my bodily force and vigour ?”
The king replied, ^ Yes, my son.”
The Prince said, ^ Which is it, sire ?”
The king. “ Your grandfather, my son, was named Sifiha- hanu, (having the jaws of a lion). Hisbow is now worshipped with garlands and aromatics in the temple of the gods. None has been as yet able to string it, much less to draw it.”
The Bodhisattva. ‘“ May it please your majesty to send for it from the temple ; I shall try it, until I have stringed it.”
Now, all the S’ékya youths tried their utmost, but failed to string that bow, much less to draw it. At last it was stringed by Dandapani, the S’ékya; but even with his utmost might and main he failed to draw it. The Bodhisattva then stringed it. Then without rising from his seat, but assuming the half bed- stead position, (2, ¢., leaning on one knee) he took it with his left hand, and drew it with asingle finger of his right hand. The sound of the twang of that bow resounded all over the city of Kapilavastu. The citizens were all bewildered, and enquired of each other, ^ Whence is this sound?” ‘The reply was, ^ Prince
42
_ _ 4 „~~~
CHAPTER XII. 218
Siddhartha has twanged his grandfather’s bow, and thence the sound.”
Thereupon all men and gods, in great delight, burst forth in hundreds of thousands of hilarious cheers and laughter. Deva- putras, coming under the sky, thus addressed the king and the multitude : |
‘Since the saint has stringed the bow without rising from his seat and the ground, he will doubtless soon fully attain his object after overthrowing the army of Mara.”
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, having stringed the bow, took an arrow, aud, with great force and vigour, shot it. That arrow successively pierced the targets of Ananda, Devadatta, Sundarananda and Dandap4ni, and, passing on to the iron drum at the tenth kros’a, pierced it through, as also the seven palm trees and the mechanical buar made of iron, and disappeared within the earth. The spot where the arrow touched the earth was 80 pierced as to appear like a well. To this day that spot is: called Sarakupa, ^^ the arrow well.”85 Hundreds of thousands of men and gods burst forth in loud and repeated shouts and cheers. All the S’ékyas became joyous and struck with wonder. But this feat and these accomplishments in art are not particularly wonderful. Devaputras, coming under the sky, thus addressed the king and the multitude :
५ Why this wonder and wherefore ?
‘This being, who will assume the seat of former Buddhas on this earth, assuming the bow of might and the arrow of nibility and soullessness, will kill the master of evil, pierce through the network of darkness which envelopes the eye (of reason), and attain the prosperous, stainless, griefless ultimatum of Bodhi.”
Saying this, the Devaputras showered flowers on the Bodhi- sattva, and then disappeared.
In this way he excelled in all arts and accomplishments current among men, exceeding all in human and celestial regions— in leaping; in running foremost; in writing, printing and arithmetic ; in wrestling and archery ; in quick walking, jumping,
214 LALITA-VISTARA.
and swimming; in the use of arrows; in riding on the neck of the elephant, on the back of the horse, and on the chariot; in fighting with bows; in firmness, vigour, and veteranship ; in wrestling ; in the use of the goad and the lasso; in vehicles for going upwards, forwards and on water; in boxing ; in hair- dressing ; in cropping, piercing, swimming, and high jump; in guessing ; in divining others’ thoughts; in explaining enigmas ; in hard beating ; in dice-playing ; in poetry and grammar; in book-writing ; in assuming shapes (pantomime) ; in the art of decoration ; in reading ; in pyrotechnics ; in playing on the Vina ; in music and dancing; in reciting songs; in story-telling; in dances ; in symphony ; in dramatic exhibition ; in masquerade ; in making flower garlands ; in shampooing ; in tinting jewels; in dyeing cloth ; in jugglery ; in explaining dreams; in divining from the cries of birds; in the knowledge of the characteristics of women, men, horses, cattle, goats, and eunuchs ; in demonology ; in the Vedic glossary ; in the Nigamas, Puranas, Itihasas, Vedas, grammar,Nirukta, (lexicography), S'iksh4, (phonology), Chhandas (versification), yajna rituals (kalpa), and astronomy; in the S‘ankhya, the Yoga and the Vaiseshika doctrines ; in ceremonials ; in dress ; in political economy (arthavidyd) ; in ethics, legerde- main (Acharya), and surgery (Asura) ; in the knowledge of the cries of mammals and birds; in disputation (hetuvidyd) + in lae ornaments; in wax-works; in needle-work; in hasket-work ; in leaf-cutting ; in perfumery.*
Now, at that time Dandapini, the S’akya, bestowed his daughter, the Saékya maiden Gopa, on the Bodhisattva. She was caused by king S'uddhodana to be duly married to the Bodhisattva. Having obtained her from amidst eighty-four thousand maidens, the Bodbisattva, according to human practice, gratified himself by enjoying and associating with her. Gopa was installed the chief queen amidst the eighty-four thousand maidens, and she did not cover her face in the presence of. any person, neither before her mother-in-law, nor before her father-in-law, nor before other persons of the house. They all advised her and argued with her.
CHAPTER XII. 215
A bride should not remain unhidden, but she (Gup4) was always manifest before all. Now, she, the Sakya daughter, hearing these words,37 recited the following verses in the presence of all the people of the house :
“Venerable sirs, the uncovered state shows the best, whether when seated or when walking, even as jewels are seen most resplendent when mounted on a flagstaff.38 (1)
“It is showy when going forward, and it is showy when coming back. Standing or sitting it is, venerable sirs, showy everywhere. (2)
“It is showy when speaking, as it is when one is silent, even as the sparrow (kalavinka)®® 18 beautiful both in its appearance and in its voice. (3)
% 44. clever man endowed with learning, whether robed in kus’a grass, or in no clothes, or in miserable apparel, or lean, displays his beauty by his own merit. (4)
‘‘He is ever resplendent, venerable sirs, who is free from sin, like an unadorned child. The sinner is never beautiful. (5)
‘Those who have sin at heart but are sweet of speech, are like. a pitcher smeared with nectar but full of poison. They are hard of heart, like the rough rock on the top of a mountain peak, They are unworthy of sight to all. (6)
‘They appear pleasant like a child to all; they are, like sacred pools, beneficial to all; they are, venerable sirs, always like pitchers, full of curds and cream—pure, agreeable, and auspi- cious,—(7)
‘who, avoiding the association of sin, have accepted the friendship of prosperity and the Three Jewels. Those, who rejecting sin accept the religion of Buddha, are always successful, alway auspicious, always beautiful. (8)
‘Of what avail is hiding the face for them who have con- trol over their person; who have overcome the evil tendencies of the organs; who have control over their speech, and are always of beautiful speech ; whose secret organs have been pacified, and whose minds are always cheerful ? (9)
216 LALITA*VISTARA.
“ A thousand folds of cloth cannot hide the nature and mind of him who has not modesty and sense of propriety manifest in him, but he who has those qualities and is ever truthful—he may roam about everywhere in nudity, like a jewel unadorned. (10)
‘What avails the hiding of the face to her whose mind is well nourished, whose organs are always under command, who is always satisfied with her husband, and never dreams of a stranger? She may always remain manifest like the sun or the moon. (11) |
^ Rishis, noble-minded persons, those who can divine the secrets in the hearts of others, the assemblage of gods, know well my motives. So long as my behaviour, my qualities, my prudence remains undisturbed, what need is there for me to cover my face with a veil ?” (12)
King Suddbodana heard these Gath4s pregnant with the wisdom and good sense of Gopd, the S’Aékya maiden, and hearing them he was transported with joy, delight, and gratification. He bestowed on the lady a necklace made of brilliant rose-coloured pearls, valued at many hundreds and thousands of millions, and a gold necklace set off with many jewels and flowers, and then joyously exclaimed—
“Even as my son is adorned with many traits, so is my daughter resplendent with noble qualities. The two are noble beings who have come to me, each a piece of fresh butter like unto the other.”
Then they returned home with the Bodhisattva at the head, in the order in which they had come out.
CHAPTER XII. 217
NOTES.
1. The Prince having grown up, p. 198. The Chinese version fixes the age at the nineteenth year, when the king provided the Prince with three palaces for the three principal seasons of the year, and a large retinue of attendants and handmaids. Separate servants were engaged to rub his person, to smooth it, to anoint it with aromatic oils, and to bathe it. There were among them hair-dressers, looking-glass holders, custodians of essences, of hair chaplets, and of the wardrobe. Every garment for the prince was made of Kasika& material, 7. ९.) silken, silk being used by the king and others for outer garments only. The Burmese version brings the age to the sixteenth year, when the palaces were provided and the marriage took place. The Siamese text follows the Burmese record.
2. Some elders of the race, both male and female, thus addressed him, p. 198. In the Chinese version the proposition comes from the king himself, who, adverting to the prophecy of Agita, asks his councillors to devise means for preventing the Prince from becgming ahermit. The Siamese text says, ‘ when the palaces were finished, the king announced his intention of raising his son to the sovereignty (making him vice king), and called upon the Sakya Princes to offer their daughters as his wives,’ (p. 120). The Burmese text sum- marily disposes of the subject by saying the Prince was married.
3. He then reflected, p. 199. This enquiry of the king about the Prince’s choice and the latter’s cogitations and reply are not noticed in the southern versions.
4, Lotuses in sacred tanks, sprouting from mire, p.199. The purport is that good may proceed from evil, even as lotuses thrive in the mire at the bottoms of old tanks. This maxim convinces the Prince that marriage, though i se bad, would lead to good, and therefore it was proper for him to marry.
5. Such should be the maiden, O king, whom I should marry, 7. 200. Although the cogitation is held in private, the verses, being designed for the information of the king, are directly addressed to the king.
28
~ ऋ
218 LALITA-VISTARA.
6. Thus addressed the family priest, p. 200. This search for a bride is unnoticed in the southern versions. According to the Chinese the bride was discovered by the conversation which the Prince had with Yagodhara in a drawing-room. ।
7. Whosoever has these qualities, p. 200. The theory of giving prominence to good qualities at the expense of caste could be appreci- ated only in the caste-ridden country of India, and therefore it finds no place in the Chinese and the southern versions. The author tries to take credit for liberality on this score, though the sequel does not bear him out. A S’akya is selected at last. Perhaps his object was indirectly to extol the S’akya race, which alone was the repository of all merit.
8. The residence of Dandapani, a S’akya, p. 201. The Chinese version, following the Mahavastu Avadana, gives Mahanama as the name of the father of YaSodhara. He was a minister of state, anda member of the Vasita gotra. The Lalita-Vistara does not assign to Dandpani any ministerial office.
9. Asoka bouquets, p. 202. The word in the Sanskrit text is Afgoka-bhanda, Asoka meaning the flower of the tree so named (Jowssia ८500} or “griefless,” 7. ¢., Joyous, and bhdnda, an orna- ment,—an ornament of asoka flowers, or an auspicious ornament. Rev. 8. Beal makes the Chinese version have ^^ every kind of jewelled ornament and delightful trifle (un lung).”? The Tibetan text has been rendered by M. Foucaux into “ ornements agréables.’”” The word asoka is seldom used in the sense of joyous or auspicious, and the fluwer of that name being a great favourite with Indian ladies even to this day, I think the flower is meant, and with it bouquets are the most appropriate trifles that could be made. The flowers are never strung into garlands, nor worn in any other way. On the 8th of the waxing moon in the month of Chaitra a fast is observed by Hindu women; and of that fast the most important parts are the embracing of the tree which is then in full bloom, and the eating of the blossoms thereof. According to the Ramayana, Sit& was confined by Ravana in an agoka grove, and the exemplary constancy which the lady evinced while so confined has associated the tree with constancy, and every
‘young lady who wants to acquire that virtue courts the tree.
Bouquets made of the blossoms of that tree are, therefore, very fitting presents to give to maidens.
CHAPTER XII. 919
10. Hepaired to the reception hall, p. 202. The Chinese make the gate of the palace the place of reception. (Beal, p. 80.)
11. Gopd, the daughter of Dandapdni, p. 202. Gop4 is an alias of Yagodhara. The Lalita-Vistara always uses Gopé, but the Maha. vastu Avadana prefers Yasodharaé. The Chinese text follows the latter work.
12. A ring worth many hundred thousands, p. 202. The Chinese text has a hundred thousand, but like our text does not say whether they were pieces of silver or gold. Mr. Beal supplies the word gold. A very valuable ring is what the text means, its respect for figures being of the slenderest. |
18. No, we shall not disadorn the Prince for we will disadorn Mara, p. 202. The young lady, by anticipation, identifies herself here with the Prince.. The plural“ we” cannot be honorific here. The reply in the Chinese text is much more natural and becoming. It runs thus—“ It would be a pity for me to do that, and so deprive the prince of that which so much becomes him.” (Beal, p. 81.) The Mahavastu Avadana assigns as a reason for her refusal some slights which the Prince had shown to Yasgodharé in two former existences ; ef. my ‘Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal,’ pp. 126 & 129, and Beal’s ‘ Legendary Life of Buddha,’ p. 93.
14, The king, thereupon, caused a proclamation to be published by the ringing of bells, p. 203. The word in the Sanskrit text is ghantd-ghosha, “the sound of ghanta.”’ Ghantaé ordinarily means a bell, but it may also mean a gong, but for the latter the common term is kdvsya, and I prefer, therefore, the first meaning, though I have no- ‘where seen any mention in Sanskrit books of the use of bells for giving publicity to proclamations. Bells seem to have been the archetype of the modern tomtom and the English auctioneer’s bell. According to the Burmese text the instrument used was a drum,
15. Planted a flag of victory, p. 204. The lady takes a more forward place in the tournament than what is usual among Indian maidens, She assumes the position of La Royne de la beauté et des amours in a Norman tournament, and her flag occupies the place of the prize which the noblest lady offers the victor at a European tournament. In the Chinese text it is her father who places her at ॐ conspicuous place and proclaims—‘ Whoever the victor may
220 LALITA-VISTARA.
be in this contest of skill and of arms, he shall carry off this my daughter as his prize.’ This is in accord with the reproach of Dandap4ni as given in the Chinese text. It runs thus: “Our S‘akya rules are these—if a man excel all others in martial exercises, then he is crowned victor, and carries off the prize of the fairest maiden ; but if he fail, then no such prize can be his. I fear the Prince Royal has been brought up delicately, and has learned none of the arts and practices of chivalry, either in tilting, or wrestling, or boxing ; but how can I wed my child to one so utterly void of skill in these arts, as I fear the prince to be ?” (Beal, p. 84.) The Siamese reproach is—“O king! thy son is of proper birth, and his appearance is admirable ; but so far as we know he has never learned anything, and has no knowledge or accomplishments. Therefore we hesitate to offer our daughters to him.”” (Alabaster, p. 120.)
In the Burmese text the tournament is brought on after the marriage. ‘The prince was devoting all his time to the pleasures of his harem, and his relatives strongly remonstrated against his mode of living which precluded him from applying himself to the acquisi- tion of these attainments befitting his exalted position.” (Bigandet, p. 52.) The Prince, in reply, comes forward to prove his fitness.
The idea of the tournament has been borrowed from Hindu legends, with such alterations of details as were thought necessary to cover its borrowed character. Everything connected with the Prince was miraculous, and a miracle had to be designed for each event, and the rich mine of the Hindu legends yielded the materials for the miracles. Even the miraculous character of his birth is based on a Hindu legend. ‘The idea of bringing forth S’akya from the left side of his mother’s womb has obviously been borrowed from the Hindus with whom it prevailed from a very remote period of anti- वपा. In the Sanhita of the Rig Veda (1४) 18) there occurs a hymn in which it is given at length. The story runs that Vamadeva, while in his mother’s womb, thought of signalising his birth, by being born in an uncommon way. His mother, perceiving this, invited Aditi and her son Indra to come and expostulate with him, whereupon the following conversation takes place :
1. [‘‘ Indra speaks.] ‘This is the old and recognised path by
an ण.
CHAPTER XII. 22]
which all the gods are born, so, when fullgrown, let him be born in the same manner; let him not cause the loss of this his mother.’
2. [‘ Vamadeva speaks.] ‘ Let me not come forth by this path, for it is difficult (of issue): 160 me come forth obliquely from the side: many acts unperformed by others are to be accomplished by me: let me contend (in war) with one (enemy) in controversy with one opponent. |
8. ‘He (Indra) has asserted (that it will) cause the death of my mother: let me not proceed by the usual way, but proceed quickly, according (to my will).”’—Wilson’s Rig Veda, III, pp. 15 |
The idea of perfect knowledge of learning in early boyhood is not confined to the Buddhists. The Jains have a similar story about the last of their great saints. According to them: ^ When Mahavira— so the story goes, and it is with slight variations repeated over and over again—was about eight years old, his parents thought it time that he should learn to read and write. With great pomp they accordingly took him to school and introduced him to the Guru. Then Indra, by the shaking of his throne advised of what was going on here below, came down from heaven, assumed the form of an old Brahman, and asked the child to solve the grammatical difficulties by which the mind of the Guru had long been disturbed, and which nobody had been able to explain before. Mahavira not only answered all the questions put to him, but he also propounded various kinds of grammatical rules, and his utterances became ~ the Jainendra grammar. The Guru, delighted with what he had heard, made Mahavira a Guru too, and saluted by Indra, the child returned home with his parents.” (Indian Antiquary for March, 1881.) In the Bhagavata, the story occurs in connexion with Krishna.
The wrestling feats are obviously revised versions of the gymnastie exercises of the Pandus and the Kurus, and the archery follows the story of Arjuna’s feat at the court of Drupada, who had promised to give away his daughter Draupadi to whoever would hit a target (a fish) from its shadow in a saucer of water. The bow incident comes from the Ramayana, and in Europe it has its counterpart in Homer, |
222 LALITA-VISTARA.
16. Prince Devadatta, p. 204. A cousin and rival of Prince Siddhartha. He had been ever at war with his relative, and often . tried to bring disgrace on him during his monastie life. Cf. My ‘Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal.’ The incidence of killing the elephant occurs in the Chinese text after the tournament, in the journey home.
17. He has not done a becoming act, p. 204. The negative particle is wanting in my Sanskrit texts; but it occurs in the Tibetan version, and is obviously required by the context. :
18. Elephant hollow, p. 204. Mr. Carlyle has identified this with a circular tank at Bhuila, between the southern ditch of Bhuila Dih and village of Jaitpur. It is called Hdthi Gadhe or Hath kund. Of. Arch. Survey Report, vol. XII, p. 159.
19. And waved their clothes, p. 204. The ancient Indian counterpart of the modern English waving of handkerchiefs.
20. By the great toe, p. 205. How an elephant can be seized by a person with his great toe only is a mechanical problem which the Buddhist faithful alone can solve. A kick is what is meant.
21. Arjuna, the astrologer-councillor, p. 205. In the Chinese text the ministerial position of this worthy is not adverted to. He is simply “a very eminent master of arithmetic.” (Beal, p- 85.)
22. Karahu, p. 207. Kalahu in Tibetan. |
23. Ganandgati, p. 207. Ganagati in Tibetan,
24. Mudrabala, p. 207. Mudrabala in Tibetan.
25. Vibhutatgama, p. 207. Vibhutagama in Tibetan.
26. Tallakshana, p. 207. The names are mostly new to Hinda Sanskrit arithmetic. The table does not correspond with one given by Burnouf in his Lotus de la bonne lot.
27. Yojanapinda, p. 208. The Hindu table of weights begins with Trisarenu, 28 of which makea /ikshd. According to Hindu physicians the Trisarenu is made up of 30 Paramanus. Neither mode of calculation corresponds with the Buddhist scheme. (Of. Colebrooke’s ‘Essays’ I, p. 529, and Thomas’ ‘Initial Coinage of Bengal,’ and ‘ Pathan Kings of Delhi.’
28. Goddaniya, p. 209. . Following M. Foncaux, I take this to be Gauda, or northern Bengal.
CHAPTER श. » 295
29. Chakravala and Mahdchakravdla mountains, p. 209. The Chakravala is a range of mountains which encircles the earth; and Mahiachakravala is situated beyond that chain.
80. So does each of the following, p. 209. Inthe Sanskrit text the phrase “hundred kotis” is repeated before every name. To obviate this frequent repetition I have introduced this line to cover all.
31. He should be examined about it, p. 209. The Chinese text does not refer to this wrestling.
82. He can pound into dust, p. 211. The word in the Sanskrit text is masichurna “powdered lampblack,” 34. e., 80 pounded as to be without grit, like lampblack.
33. Vajraka, p.211. I have read of no account of this moun- tain.
34. Let him show his skill in archery, p. 211. The Chinese text here describes the appointment of one Sahadeva as the umpire.
35. In perfumery, p. 215. Some of the terms are not of clear import. They are obviously technical, but I know not the nature of the arts to which they were applied. The translations given are purely mechanical, The arts named, it will be seen, are in some respects different from the 64 kalas named in the Bhagavata Purana (ante, p. 187). Negative evidence is not often of much value, but it is worthy of note that the text notices by name the Saikhya, the Yoga and the Vaiseshika doctrines, but does not name the 21104758 and the Vedanta systems. The Nyaya is probably included in the Hetu. vidya. It 18 possible that Kriydkalpa, as distinct from Yajnakalpa, stands for the (18788. Its position between the Yoga and Vaise- shika would suggest the idea. I have dislocated it and translated it into ceremonials,
37. Mounted ona flagstaff, p. 215. A jewel of great excellence ‘mounted on a pole and held up high, sheds its lustre so as to appear like a lamp, hence the simile. (Of ante, p. 35.)
38. Sparrow, p. 215. I suspect the word kalavitka stands here for some other bird than a sparrow; but I know of nosuch. The plumage and voice of a sparrow are not such as to be worthy of the comparison here made.
[ऋ
224, LALITA-VISTARA.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE IMPLORATION.
The celestial consultation. The Bodhisattva’s knowledge of time. Exhorta- tory verses. Description of the palace. Celestial implorations.
Now, Bhikshus, when the Bodhisattva was passing his time in the gynaceum, many Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, Brahmas, and Loka- palas, proclaiming their delight, came to the place, eager to offer worship to the saint. At another time this idea struck those beings: Verily, for long is the noble being tarrying in the gynaceum. These people matured for a long period with the fourfold blessings of charity, sweet speech, good service, and sense of equality, are urging him to impart religious instruction, so that the four religious vessels may disappear, and the Bodhi- sattva, subsequently issuing forth from his home, may acquire the absolute and thorough Bodhi knowledge. Thereupon they respectfully and cheerfully joined their hands and saluted him. ‘Then they stood aside with an anxious desire to know when it will be that they will have the felicity of beholding the noble and pure being renounce his home, and, renouncing it, take ‘his seat at the root of the great and supereminent tree, and,
‘overthrowing Mara, attain the sequenceless and thorough Bodhi
knowledge,—that he may be endowed with the ten powers of Tathdgatas,' the four Tathégata accomplishments,’ the eighteen
sections of Buddha religion,3—turning the twelve-formed wheel of
religion with its three transitions,* and by his Bauddha duties and auspicious emancipatory speech gratify men, gods and Asuras. Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva had for a long period, extend- ing over innumerable kalpas, been agreeable to all. He was the great teacher of all worldly and superworldly duties. He was for long acquainted with the proper season, the proper moment, and the proper time for the performance of all duties which
CHAPTER XIII. 2२५
has auspiciousness for their root. He was infallible, well know- ing, and thoroughly versed in the five realities.© He had attain- ed mastery over the chapter on occult powers, over the organs of his body, over the knowledge of proper and improper times. He pervades all time, and does not exceed the limit like the great ocean after it has reached the height of the tide.6 Endowed with the power of his intellect and understanding, he had himself learnt everything. He knew this is the proper time for this; this is the proper time for acceptance, and this for refusal; this is the proper time for collecting, and this for dispensing ; this is the proper time for negligence, this for speaking, this for silence; this is the time to go out, this for accepting asceticism; this is the time for reading, this for pleasure, and this for deliberation; this is the time for mix- ing with Kshatriyas, this with Brahmanas, householders, and courtiers, this for Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, S’akra, Brahmé, Lokapalas, Bhikshus, Bhikshukis, Updsakas, [1 [0881188 ; this is the time for preaching religion; this is the time for the final dis- solution. Everywhere and at all times a Bodhisattva is pro- ficient in the knowledge of time, he is the pervader of time.
Now, again, Bhikshus, this is the rule with reference to all Bodhisattvas at their last existence, that when they are dwelling in the female apartment they should for certain be inspired by the Buddhas inhabiting the ten quarters of the earth, with such religious hymns as these, accompanied by the harmony of musical instruments.
On that subject this is said:
- “The best among all those foremost men who dwell in the ten quarters of the earth, inspire the noblest of beings with these delightful Gathé songs, with the accompaniment of sweet music. (1)
** Beholding living creatures groaning under a hundred evils, thou, oh Lord, our well-doer, didst, in former times, resolve that thou wouldst redeem those of this world who would seek thy asylum. (2)
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226 LALITA-VISTARA.
«© pure one, O hero, recall to mind thy resolution for the good of the earth. This is the time, this is the moment, this is the opportunity ; issue forth from this noble mansion, O noble Rishi. (3)
“For them, of yore, thou didst reject thy head, thy hands, thy feet and many magnificent treasures in order that thou mayst encounter Bodhi knowledge; thou art the controller of men and gods, the noblest in creation, the endowed with a hundred merits. (4)
“Thou hast performed fasts and penances through thy good conduct. Through thy forbearance thou hast done good to the earth. By thy vigour thou hast acquired all noble qualities. In meditation and knowledge there is none equal to thee in the three regions. (5)
“Through thy benevolence many immersed in passion and. filth of innumerable kinds have been translated to manifest redemption. Thy mercy has purged many of their evil quali- ties and falsehood, and made them wise. (6)
‘Through thy knowledge of virtue, through thy auspicious: soul, through thy knowledge of meditation, through thy im- maculate fasts and penances, thou showest resplendent in the ten quarters, even as the pure moon without a cloul. (7)
‘These and many such musical sounds reverberating from the voice of Jinas and calculated to overpower men and gods, inspire thee. This is thy time; renounce and come forth.” (8)
Now, Bhikshus, the palace in which the Bodhisattva resided was replete with every requisite for enjoyment, rivalling the abode of gods. It wasa noble palace, furnished with covered terraces, balconies, gateways, windows, halls, and pavilions, It was decorated with all kinds of jewels and beautiful orna- ments tastefully set off. Uplifted on it were parasols, flags and pennants, ornamented with numerous strings of jewelled bells. Hundreds of thousands of silken fabrics streamed all about it. Innumerable jewels were set on it. Garlands of pearls were suspended from it. It was provided with stairs decorated with
दिति कि
~> -- + ~+ ~ ~~ ~ ee we oe lit a ee = = ae
CHAPTER शा, 227
‘silken carpets and jewels. It was begirt with silken draperies and
garlands. It was redolent with the fumes of aromatic pills and pastilles. It had awnings of rich stuffs spread everywhere. Pleasant, sweet-scented flowers of all seasons and well-blown tank lillies and fresh lotuses were enjoyable everywhere in it. It resounded with the sweet voice of patraguptas, parrots, mainas, koels, geese, peacocks, brahmini geese, kunalas, sparrows, partridges and birds of various other kinds. It was provided with delightful floors, blue as the lapis-lazuli. Every form about it was pleasant to the sight. It was the delighter of undelighted eyes. It was the exciter of gratification and enjoy- ment. It was in this noble mansion that the Bodhisattva then resided. He was dwelling in this house with wide and excellent
corridors. His person was stainless, dirtless, and free from foul-
ness. He had not laid aside his garlands and ornaments. His body was anointed with unguents, fragrant as the surabbi flower.’ His body was draped in auspicious, pure, white, stainless vest- ments. He was lying on an exquisitely formed bed, soft as the down on the pod of the kachilindika, and decorated with nu- morous bouquets of excellent flowers. He was constantly beserved with unobjectionable, agreeable, beneficient objects of enjoy- ment, even as the wives of the immortals. He was being entertained by the music of conch-shells, trumpets, drums, panasa, tunuva, vind, vallakt, taddva, and damsels were enlivening him with the soft, pleasing, sweet, gratifying music of the flute, At that time issued forth, with the voice of the elarion, the following exhortative verses from the Lord Buddhas residing in
. the ten quarters of the globe:
“Whatever the joyous and well-disposed damsels charmingly sounded with their flutes, through the influence of the noblest Jinas in the ten quarters of the globe, the same manifested themselves in diverse and beautiful 6७६07६5. (1)
* Beholding these crowds without a protector, thou didst resolve of yore, hero, to deliver them, after acquiring the rank devoid of disease and grief, (2. ८; of a Buddha,) from disease, death and other pains. (2)
~
228 LALITA- VISTARA.
‘‘ That resolve was noble. Now quickly issue forth from this house ; betake to the surface of the earth on which dwell many Rishis, and acquire the unrivalled Jina wisdom. (8) |
५ [7 former times thou didst abandon precious wealth and jewels—thy hands and thy feet, and thy life; this is now thy time, great sage, do overflow the earth with the perennial stream of religion. (4)
“In former times thy conduct was noble and pure and per fect. Thou didst then bestow a hundred blessings by thy speech. Thy conduct is unrivalled; O great sage, redeem the world from its diverse pains. (5)
‘Through thy forbearance thou bast accomplished a hundred noble acts; through thy forbearance thou hast cheerfully borne many hard things said against thee; through thy forbearance thy soul is fixed on mercy and self-control. O king of the bipede, turn thy mind to renunciation. (6)
‘In former times thy firm, immovable, unshaken vigour had spread wide, overcoming a hundred Namuchis with their armies ; do dispel the three-fold pain.® (7) |
‘For that thou didst undergo fasts and penances. Bearing in mind the sins and pains of the Kali age, do thou rain the unfailing water of immortality, and sooth those who are ever thirsty and helpless. (8)
Calling to mind thy former noble resolve, and quickly issuing forth from this excellent house, do soothe the thirsty with the waters of immortality, after thyself acquiring the immortal and griefless state. (9) |
“ By the acquisition of wisdom thy virtuous knowledge has become wide and extended and endless; do thou shed the auspi-
cious and grateful light of wisdom for the ignorant and those
who follow the wrong path. (10)
‘Thou hast practised a hundred acts of benevolence for the development of the blessing of mercy; whatever thou hast practised, do practise the same for the good of the world. (11)
“Such Gathés formed of beautiful flowers strung together
eae + ----9
~ ad Seen al tt ~ जक
-----=* 4 ~ =
CHAPTER XIJI. 229
without a thread, and full of the vigour of the Jinas of the ten quarters of the globe, and resounding through diverse musical instruments, exhorted the prince reposing on his couch. (12)
‘And again, while the delightful and enticing charmers pleasingly and sweetly sang with the aid of musical instru- ments, the Jinas of the ten quarters, the controllers of gods and men, 80 resounded these musical notes as to echo forth from mountains. (13)
“Thou hast acquired many virtues for the good of creation. Thou hast mastered the merits of Jinas in thy career. Oh, recall to mind, do recall to mind, thy former fasts and penances ; do quickly repair to the noble tree and attain the immortal rank. (14)
‘Thirsty are mortal men devoid of the merits of Jinas. In thee are reposited the merits of intelligence, cheerfulness, and power. Thou art the bestower of the nectar of immortality. Thou art endowed with the ten occult powers. O adored of wise men, O prince, do thou swiftly distribute the nectar. (15)
५ Forsaking, in former times, wealth, jewels and gold in thig earth ; forsaking friends and sons, the earth with its cities and fairs ; forsaking even thy race, thy hands, thy feet, and thy eyes and even thy head, thou didst bless the world by thy devotion to Jina merits. (16)
५५ [7 former times, when thou wast born a son to a mortal,? a man, standing in front, addressed thee in these words, “ Pray, bestow on me this earth with all its towns and fairs,” and, in reply, thou didst grant the gift most cheerfully, and without the least uneasiness of mind. (17)
“In former times, when thou wast born sovereign of men in the family of a Braman, thou didst do service to thy seniors, and injured no one. Thou didst place, O noble Bréhman, numbers in benignity, and thou didst then, lord, retire to thy place. (18)
% [7 former times, O prince, when thou wast born a noble Rishi, an irate king of the Kali age!® tore asunder the members of thy body. After performing the duties of thy race without
230 LALITA-VISTARA.
any disturbance of mind, thou didst depart for thy home with thy hands and feet entire. (19)
‘Remember, again, that when in former times thou wast born the son of a Rishi!’ and dwelt in penance in a mountain home, thou wast destroyed by a poisoned arrow shot by a king, thou didst show thy mercy to the king, and didst not feel disturbed in mind. (20)
‘In former times when thou, greatly endowed with merit, didst live as the lord of deer!* and ramble over hills, rivers and marshes, according to thy list, a barbarian entrapped thee, and thou didst follow him without being afflicted in heart on that account. (21)
‘In former times when thou wast born a Brahman, a precious jewel of thine fell into the depths of the ocean and by thy superior powers thou didst recover it therefrom. (22)
‘In former times when thou wast a noble Rishi, a bird approached {6613 and said, ^ be thou my asylum.” Thou didst reply, “ you are safe here,” and, for his sake, thou didst give up thy own person, but never forsook the bird. (23)
८ Remember, again, that when formerly a Rishi asked thee to count the leaves of a tree under which he dwelt, thou didst count the leaves on the tree and never made a mistake. (24)
«QO, thou of white qualities, when thou didst live as a parrot on a tree,!4 thou didst not, when the tree withered and died, for- sake it, knowing it to be thy home. When the king of the gods came to know of it, he recalled with delight thy qualities, and produced a worthy tree for thy home. (25)
^ (पऽ, unrivalled are thy fasts and penances. Thou hast, owner of merits, achieved many good deeds. This is the time for thee to renounce the earth with all its towns, and quickly to place the creation in the exercise of the virtues of Jinas. (26)
‘When the charming damsels with their persons decorated with ornaments and rich vestments, were singing in har. mony with the accompaniment of excellent music, there arose, through Jina merit, from the ten quarters of space, these Gathés
CHAPTER XIIT. 931
of varied and mellifluous sounds in harmony with the cadence of music. (27)
‘From many millions of kalpas this was, O lamp of the uni- verse, thy resolve, “I shall be born here for the redemption of the creation subject to disease and death.” Do tbou, lion among men, call to mind that former resolve. The time has come for thy renunciation, king of the bipeds. (28)
‘ As a mortal son on earth innumerable have been the benefac- tions that have been given away by thee; thou hast given away wealth, gold, precious stones, rare vestments, beautiful jewels, thy own hands and feet and eyes; dear sons and thriving kingdoms have been given away by thee; and never hast thou, devoid of the defects of the dwellers of hell, ever denied a prayer. (29)
‘OQ thou auspicious king, thou of the rabbit mark, (7. ¢., beautiful as the moon bearing the mark of the hare on its breast,) with a mouth set with handsome teeth, with mind embued with mercy and benevolence, crowned with jewels, refulgent as the moon; beginning with these, O hero of the royal race, thou hast done many noble acts for the guidance of many royal per- sonags. (30)
“Thou hast, © Sugata, for many kalpas practised good con- duct—conduct flawless as the mani jewel!’—conduct which has purified good conduct. Thou hast practised it with the same assiduity with which the yak preserves its hair.!6 Thou hast practised good conduct for the good of this world. (31)
< By thy devotion to good conduct, O noble elephant,!” thou didst, when pierced by the arrow of thy enemy, covetousness, show him mercy and favour, and overshadow the heat of the day by such noble acts as giving up thy excellent tusks; but thou didst never abandon thy good conduct. (32)
५५ [7 the exercise of thy good conduct thou hast suffered from numerous travails—a thousand pains, many injurious speeches, and imprisonment. By thy patience thou hast, O king, pre- served all in ease. And those who sought to kill thee have been pardoned. (33)
i
232 LALITA-VISTARA.
‘When thou didst dwell in thy mountain abode as a bear thou didst carry on thy shoulders a man!® benumbed with icy cold, and shivering through fear. Living in peace on fruits and roots, thou didst abstain from injuring him through thy forbearance. (34)
“Firm, fixed, immovable, unshaken was thy vigour. Thou hadst acquired Bodhi knowledge by thy fasts and penances, virtues and learning. Thy well-practised purity has become obedient to thee by the might of thy vigour. Lion among men, this is the time for the renunciation of thy home. (35)
“Formerly thou wast born on this earth as a noble horse of a golden colour.*? Thou didst travel through the air to the island of the cannibals (Rakshasas). Relieving men there from a hun- dred pains thou didst place them in salvation. Beginning with such works, many noble deeds were accomplished by thy vigour. (36) |
«५ 0 thou who hast overcome all pain by thy self-control, thou chief among meditationists, thou didst overcome the feeble, fickle mind bent on pleasing worldly objects, by thy merits, for the good of creation. By devotion to meditation do thou make men attached to meditation. (37)
“When formerly thou wast a Rishi immersed in calm medi- tation, without thyself being a king, thou didst instal men in the rank of royalty. By the aid of the tenfold blessings thou didst place them in the way to Brahma. Thereby lost men, through the ten blessings, attained the home of Brahma. (38)
“By thy knowledge of the ten quarters and their inter- Mediaries and that of motion, thou art the knower of the true law; by thy knowledge of the conduct and the language of others and of the nature of the senses, as well as of civility, humility, and thought, thou art proficient. This is the time, prince, for renunciation. (39)
“In former times, beholding mankind suffering from per- verted vision resulting from disease, death and diverse pains, thy mercy was moved in favour of the sufferers, and for the good of
CHAPTER XIII. 233
this region, thou, bereft of darkness, didst place them on the straight path. (40)
“Thus did numerous divers 68188 of attractive merit, re- fulgent with the glory of Jinas, exhort the hero, saying, ‘be- holding the multitude of this earth groaning under pain, tarry not, oh noble Buddha! this is the time for renunciation.’ (41)
“For the foremost being for whom delightful damsels be- decked with beautiful raiment, jewelled necklaces, and fragrant garlands, with loving earnestness exhilarated with divers music, Gath4s endowed with the ardour of Jinas thus burst forth in music: (42)
८ For that for which thou didst for many kalpas renounce things hard to give up, for which thou didst assiduously cultivate good conduct, patience, vigour, meditation, and knowledge a hundred times over, for the welfare of creation—the time for that has now arrived. Think, leader, the thought of renuncia- tion, and tarry not. (43)
‘In former times thou didst abandon treasures of jewels, and ornaments of gold and silver, and perform rites of various kinds during different births ; thou didst abandon dear wives and sons, extensive kingdoms and life. For the sake of Bodhi knowledge innumerable were the renunciations made by thee, of things the most difficult to renounce. (44)
“Thou wast Adinapunya, a king of renowned beauty ; (thou wast) Nimindhara, Nimi, Krishnabandhu, Bahmadatta, and Kes’ari; * thou wast Sahasrayayna, Dharmachinti, Archi- mat, and Dridbadhana. For the sake of poor creatures thou didst abandon hard-earned wealth and sons, difficult to give up. (45)
“Thou didst, as Soma (Suta-soma), Diptavirya and Punya- rasmi,”! abandon the earth and vigour to uphold thy gratitude. A royal saint (Rdjarshi), beautiful as the moon, a hero, an upholder of truth, a profound thinker, an unfailing reasoner, well disposed, and compassionate thou wast, O king. (46)
30
234 LALITA-VISTARA.
“Even as the kings Chandraprabha, Vigeshag4mi, Renu, even as K4s’‘traja, the hero of charity, the son of Ratnachida, and other royal personages gave away things difficult to part with, so do thou shower in a mighty downpour the rain of religion. (47)
“Tn former times thou didst behold noble beings, (numerous) as the grains of sand in the Ganges, and worship them as Buddhas with boundless devotion ; thy desire was to be the fore- most Buddha, the redeemer of mankind; the time for that has now arrived ; do quickly issue forth from the excellent house. (48)
८८ First didst thou worship Amoghadarsi with a sala flower. After that thou didst devotedly look at Vairochana. Then didst thou offer Dundubhis’vara a myrobalan. Holding up a flambeau of hay thou didst visit the abode of Chandana (49)
८८ Beholding Renu entering a town thou didst throw on him a handful of gold dust; with religious zeal thou didst address Dharmes’vara, who sympathised with his worshippers. Beholding Sumantadars‘ thou didst exclaim ‘ salutation, saluta- tion.” With delight thou didst cast a golden necklace on the shoulders of Maharchi. (50)
“Thou didst offer Dharmadhvaja a fringe; Nirodha a hand- ful of munga seed; Jndnketu an as’oka flower; Jogaydna a driver ;* Ratnasikhi a lamp; Padmayoni herbs; Sarvabhibhu a pearl necklace ; Sagara a lotus; (51).
Padmagarbha an awning; 81908 a tent for protection from rain ; SArendraraja a beverage (or many things); Pushpita milk ; Yasodatta Barleria flower (kuruntha) ; Satyadarsi utensils ; Jndnameru prostration with body ; Nagadatta vestment; (52)
८८ Atyuchchagdami agaru sandal; Vikshu a handful of salt ; Mahaviytha a lotus; Rasmirdja jewels; S’akya Munit a hand- ful of gold; Indraketu hymns; Sury4nana a head ornament ; Sumati a handful of gold and a tiara; (53)
* The passage may mean an asoka flower and a vehicle with a pair and a driver to Jagayan.
+ There must be some mistake, the Siddhartha addressed is Sakya, and he could not have made the offering to himself.
CHAPTER XIII. 935
< Nagdvibhu a mani jewel; Pushpa a white tent ; Bhaishaj- एका] a jewelled umbrella; Sinhaketu a chair (or rug); Gunagradhéri a jewelled net; Kasyapa musical instruments ; Archiketu incense and powdered Agallochum ; Chaitya flowers. (54)
“Thou hast given Akshobhyardéja a temple; Lokapdjita a garland ; Tagarasikhi a kingdom ; Durjaya all kinds of essences ; Mahépradipa self; Padmottara ornaments ; Dharmaketu beauti- ful flowers; Dipakéri a blue lotus. (55)
‘These and other great men didst thou of yore worship; and thou didst other great deeds. Pray, think of those past Buddhas, their worship, and their ordinances. Helpless beings are now full of pain; issue forth from this noble mansion, and tarry not. (56)
“Thou didst obtain perfect forbearance by the very sight of Dipafkara, as also the fivefold imperishable science in due order.” Then didst thou introduce the worship with proper attention of the succeeding Buddhas in all regions for innumerable kal- pas. (57)
“During the lapse of unnumbered ages many are the Buddhas that have come to anend. Even among these where- to are thy own various natures and names gone? All conditions are naturally mutable; there is nothing eternal in productions.* Inconstant are the passions and enjoyment of regal powers. Issue forth from the noble house. (58)
“ Age, suffering, disease and death are coming on apace, so 13 the horrible, dreadful, fierce, mighty fire at the end of the kalpa,* All conditions are naturally perishable; there is nothing eternal in productions. Beings are immersed in great misery. Do ye, owner of merit, issue forth, (59)
< When the ladies with the diverse music of the lute and the flute were entertaining the supreme lord of men resting on his couch, the sound of the consort thus broke forth: (60)
“The threefold world 1s ablaze, burning with the fire of age, disease, suffering and death; it is without a protector. With-
236 LALITA-VISTARA.
out an asylum; the inert world is turning about like a bee con- fined in a jar, (61)
५५ Tnconstant is the threefold world, even as an autumnal cloud, or the acting in a theatre. Birth on this earth is ever followed by fall, like a mountain stream. [16 on this earth passes away lightly, quickly und rapidly, like the lightning in the sky. (62)
‘On earth and in the region of the gods, in the three perish- able paths,” are ignorant beings turning round and round under the influence of worldly desires and ignorance in the five con- ditions, like the wheel of a potter. (63)
“ Overcome by dear beautiful forms, by constant sweet sounds, by pleasing smells and flavours, by the pleasures of touch, the world is held in the lasso of the evil genius (८402) 96 even as a haltered deer in the hands of a fowler. (64)
“The effects of passion are always attended with fear and death ; they are always injurious, full of grief and accidents ; they are keen as the sharpened edge of the sword, smeared with poison. For the good of creation abandon them like a pitcher of urine. (65)
‘The effects of passion always trouble the memory* and heighten the quality of darkness; they produce causes of fear, and are invariably the roots of misery ; they promote the growth of the vine of worldly thirst, dreadful and destructive. (66)
‘Even as a spark of fire 18 calculated to produce a dreadful conflagration, so are these passions known to be by sensible people; they are like great quagmires; they are keen as a forest of swords,t as a razor dipped in honey.{ (67)
# Tamastkarana from tamasi the quality of darkness, but I am doubtful about the correctness of my rendering.
¶ From asi “ sword ”’ and sindhu “an ocean” = an ocean of swords. Had the word stndhu preceded ast, I would have rendered the compound “ the sword of the Sindhu country,’ that country having been noted for blades of a superior quality. Rhetorically, this meaning would be better.
t The sense may be that the sharpness is so keen that it cuts without causing any sensation of pain, or a sensation of soothing; or that the razor is tempered in honey and therefore very sharp. I am not aware of any process
CHAPTER XIII. 937
“Even as is a lake full of serpents, or a pitcher full of urine, so are the passions known to be by wise men. They are trouble- some and inimical like spikes, like the falchions of warriors,* like the nails of dogs,t like the enmity of monkeys. (68)
“The qualities of the passions are (unsteady) like the (image of the) moon in water; (unreal) asa reflection, as the echo in a mountain, as a shadow, as a scene on the stage, as a dream—so are they known to be by men of experience. (69)
“The qualities of the passions last only for a moment; they are (delusive) as the mirage ; (hollow) as the froth and bubbles on water; they are evolved from false imaginings: so say all wise men. (70)
‘In the dawn of youth when the body is in its perfect beauty, . it is the occupation of youth to love, to long, to cherish. When it is undone by age, disease, and pain it is abandoned even as a deer forsakes a dried up river. (71)
“To care for, love, and hold dear wealth, corn and goods of diverse kinds is the occupation of youth; but when wealth is wasted, and distress supervenes, men forsake them as an empty wilderness. (72)
“Like a plant in blossom or a tree bearing fruits, a man in wealth is engaged in acts of beneficence and gratifications for others ; but when he has lost his wealth, and is decayed and reduced to the necessity of begging, he becomes unwelcome like a vulture. (73)
of tempering in which honey is used ; but all viscid fluids cause slow cooling, and are therefore more or less adapted for tempering. The comparison is common enough in the former sense.
* Dvija-pesisamd in the original, literally like the “ flesh ”’ yes’?, of the twice- born dvdja, or the flesh of birds. Pes’t also means a scabbard, and I take it to be equivalent to a sword. Dvija or twice-born may well stand for Kshatriyas or the warrior caste. Dvija is also used to imply a serpent and pes’t may stand for eggs, t.¢. they are serpents’ eggs, pregnant with mischief.
+ I am doubtful about this rendering, the word in the original, is sydnakara ‘ the hand of a dog.’
-
238 LALITA-VISTARA.
“When one has authority and effects and power and is hand- some in body, he is a welcome companion, gratifying both to the mind and the senses; but when he is overcome by decay, disease, distress and loss of wealth then he is as repulsive as death. (74)
“On the expiry of youth and in the decay of age one becomes like a tree struck by lightning, or a house dilapidated by age ; promptly say, O sage, when is the time for the extinction of that decay ? (75)
९ Age dries up both men and women, even as the Malu cree. per”? destroys a dense 8812, forest ; age is the robber of vigour, power, and energy; a man in decay is (as helpless) as one caught ina quagmire. (76)
“Age is the deformer of beauty and handsomeness ; it is always the robber of vigour and of enjoyment; it is the cause of overthrow and of death ; it destroys radiance, power, and strength. (77)
“The world is aggrieved by a hundred diseases; by in- numerable ailments and suffering ; (itis restless,) like a deer in a burning forest. Behold the world immersed in age and disease; pray, quickly direct the means of putting an end to suffering. (78)
‘‘Even as coldness in winter deprives trees, grass, tubers, and herbs of their vigour, so do disease and age destroy the vigour (of man); they take away beauty, might and organic powers. (79)
‘Disease and age are always the causers of waste and destruc- tion of wealth and corn and treasures; of anguish and obstruc- tion ; of pain as regards deur ones, and of burning like the sun in the heaven. (80)
^ Death, transition, and fall are the works of time; they always cause separation from dear objects and persons ; they never return, they never restore union; (they float away) like trees, leaves and fruits on the current of a river. (81)
“ All are subject to death; none can control it; death takes
CHAPTER XIII. 239
‘away all like a river carrying away wood that has fallen into it ; helpless man passes on to the second (region) governed by the ‘fruit of his own actions. (82)
“Death swallows men by hundreds, like even as the Makara destroys creatures living in water; or the Garuda, serpents; or the lion, the elephant; or fire, grass and herbs and other objects. (83) | _ ^ From these and other evils by hundreds thou didst resolve to free the world, Call to mind that former resolve of thine. This is the time for thy departure.’ (84)
‘When the cheerful damsels were entertaining the great sage with music, diversified Gath4s issued forth from the sounds of the music through the grace of Sugata. (85)
*‘ All things proceeding from the residua of former acts are known to be sapless and impermanent like the lightning in the sky. Thy time has come, the time for thy proceeding forth, O Suvrata! (86)
“All residua of works are impermanent, unlasting, fragile like an unbaked water-jar; like a play on a stage; like a town built of dust—all lasting for a short while only. (87)
^^ Residua are by nature subject to destruction, they are transi- tory and moving like the cloud of autumn, like the sand on the banks of a river, subject to cause and essentially weak, (88)
^ Residua are like the flame of a lamp, by nature produced and destroyed suddenly; in unsteadiness they are comparable to the passing wind ; unsubstantial and feeble like froth. (89)
Residua are inert and hollow ; they appear like the stem of a plantain tree; they are delusive to the mind like jugglery ; (worthless) as the babble of infants; (transient) as the (flame of) a handful of hay. (90)
“Through cause and consciousness proceed all the products of residua; all this (creation) therefore is due to the mutual reaction of causes ; ignorant people do not understand this. (91)
Even as a rope is made by power employed in uniting munja
240 LALITA-VISTARA.
and valvaja bark,*® and a water lift must rest on a wheel ; neither can result by itself, (92) |
so all worldly objects are produced by the co-operation of one material with another. They are never found singly in esse or posse. (93)
Even as a seed produces a sprout, but the sprout is not identical with the seed, nor does the sprout abide in it, owing to all things being transitory but continuous in nature, (94)
they have residua and ignorance for their cause, and in residua there is no permanence: Both residua and ignorance are verily substanceless ; by nature they are inert. (95)
One may see an impression from a seal, but there is no transference into the impression of that seal; nor does the one abide in the other, and therefore there is no permanency in either; there is unbrokenness of the chain of residua, but no constancy. (96)
By the union of the image, the eye, and consciousness, vision is product; form does not proceed from the eye, nor is there an entrance of the form into the eye. (97)
The qualified are agreeable because soulless, and not because there is a soul; and the reverse (४. e., the admission of soul) 18 untrue and imaginary; the sensation of vision is produced therein (2. e., in that imaginary soul). (98)
He knows (that soul) is produced on the destruction of know- ledge, and it disappears on the origin of knowledge, who knows the present, the past, and the future-to be void and delusive, (99)
The triple contact of a stick with another and the force of the hand is the cause of the production of fire, and the action may be easily created. (100)
When a Pandit enquires whence is a thing come, and where- to does it go, ‘he hunts everywhere in foreign lands and his own land, but never can he make out whence the coming and where- to is the going. (101)
The causes of works (karma), are skandhas, field (lit. matter
CHAETER XIII. 241
receptacle, dhdtvdyatana), will, and ignorance; materials explain the origin of existence; they do not subserve the noblest end. (102)
^ Letters are produced through the instrumentality of the larynx and the lips acting on the palate and the tongue; but not a letter can be found in the larynx, nor in the palate. (103)
‘Speech proceeds from a union of causes under the influence of the mind and the intellect $ but both the mind and the speech are invisible in form, and can be grasped neither internally nor externally. (104) |
“A wise man perceives the production and disappearance of speech, as also the sound and pitch of the voice, and that they exist only for a moment; thus are all speeches comparable to an echo. (105) |
< Even as by the threefold instrumentality of cord, wood, and manual exertion music is produced in the ééna, vind and other sweet-sounding instruments, (106)
‘“‘and a wise man, enquiring everywhere on this side and that side to know whence 1४ comes and whereto it goes, fails to ascertain the cause of the appearance and disappearance of a sound, (107) |
“so do all products of residua proceed from instrumental and material causes, and the Yogi, conscient of the truth, knows all residua to be void and perishable. (108)
‘The Skandhas, space, and materials are void, both essentially and apparently ; properly understood, they have no substratum, and are of the same nature as ether. (109)
‘This character of attributes was understood by thee on thy seeing (the Buddha) Dipafikara ; having understood it for thyself, do ye explain it to men and gods. {110}
८ The creation is being burnt by discordant and falsely-assumed wrath and enmity; O, do ye shower the nectariferous rain of cool water from thy cloud of mercy! (111)
“For obtaining it thou hast bestowed benevolences on pandits for innumerable millions of kalpas; and having obtained it, the
31
242 LALITA-VISTARA.
noblest Bodhi, revered sir, thou shalt have acquired the most highly prized wealth for (the well-being of) living beings. (112)
“Call to mind thy former career; neglect not, charioteer of living beings, the disrespectable, the wealthless, the poor, and the afflicted ; do collect for them the desiderated wealth. (113)
‘Thou hast always cherished good conduct, for the salvation of perishable regions, and in order that thou wouldst show the im- mortal door of heaven, for the good of millions of beings. (114)
“Call to mind thy former career; closing the doors of the lower regions, do unbar the immortal gate of heaven; accom- plish thy generous wishes. (115)
‘Thou hast well cherished forbearance, for the suppression of enmity and anger among the embodied; ferrying them over the ocean of worldliness, establish them in peace, prosperity and diseaselessness. (116)
“Call to mind thy former career; neglect not those who are inimical, quarrelsome and destructive; establish the creation disposed to injury on the land of forbearance. (117)
“The object with which heroism was cultivated by thee was to acquire the ship of virtue, and, rescuing the world from all oceans (of evil), to establish it on a region devoid of enmity and disease, (118)
‘Call to mind thy former career; the world is deluded by fourfold evil; O leader, do ye promptly save living beings by the might of thy vigour and strength. (119)
‘Thou hast undergone the labour of meditation and prayer ; this was not done for heroism, but with this resolve,—‘I shall place those whose senses are in delusion or in a primitive state of rudeness on the right path.” (120)
“Call to mind thy former career; the world is groaning, enveloped in a net-work of pain; neglect not; place the people oppressed with pain in the bliss of concentrated medita- tion. (121)
“In former times, knowledge was well cultivated by thee, with this resolve that thou wilt bestow on the world enveloped
CHAPTER XIII. 2438
in the blinding darkness of delusion and error the eye for the microscopic vision of many hundred virtues. (122)
* Call to mind thy former career; hestow on the world en- veloped in the blinding darkness of delusion and error the superior knowledge of excellent refulgence, and the clear and stainless eye of virtue. (123)
“These and such-like Gath4s issued forth from the sound of the music of the damsels, and thou, hearing them made up thy mind to forsake the world, in order that thou mayst be infused with devotion, and able to appreciate the noble and chief wisdom.” (124)
Thus, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, dwelling in the female apartments, became dispassionate,—dispassionate in hearing the voice of religion, by accepting it in his mind. Howso? It was because, O Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, for a long time, had cultivated respect for religion, the history of religion, and by exertion had become the searcher of religion, the lover of 16 ligion, and the devotee of religion. He established religion by argument; he was a promulgator of the traditional religion ; the bestower of the unrivalled great religion ; the disinterested teacher of religion 3 unmiserly in dispensing religion; devoid of the desire of recompense for teaching fully ; possessed of religion and its subsidiaries ; a hero in the acquisition of religion; a destroyer of irreligion; a protector of religion; an asylum of religion; a superior asylum of religion; devoted to religion; the recipient of the jewel of religion; thoroughly practised in forbearance; accomplished in the transcendental knowledge (prajnapdramitd) experienced in the easy means of salvation (updyaekausalya).
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, by the exercise of the great and easy means, showed to the whole of the dwellers of the zenana the enviable path of salvation. He did this after having shown the dwellers of the zenana the path of salvation by the practice of great merit; after having followed the career of virtue for the reformation of mankind of former Bodhisattvas of surpassing worldly merit; after having known for a long time the evils of
न 8 2 म व त ॥ By Uae 48 कक ४ - ५.
944 LALITA-VISTARA.
passion ; after having, for maturing the minds of beings, enjoyed all objects of desire; after having exhibited his unrivalled supremacy in accumulating the treasures of special virtue and power resulting from the root of immeasurable good; after having tasted the sensuous pleasures resulting from the enjoy- ment of diverse objects of gratification relating to form, sound, smell, and touch—all most charming and of superhuman and super-celestial character; after having exhibited the entire and unlimited control he possessed over his mind in all matters re- garding objects of desire; after having discussed. with men who had acquired the root of good through their previously acquired power of reflection ; after having evinced a feeling of sympathy for afflicted persons. Perceiving then that the time for matur- ing the mind of the self-willed dwellers of the zenana had arriv- ed, the Bodhisattva repeatedly called to mind his former resolves. He brought face to face the Buddha religion; he spread out his powers of reflection ; he revived his unbounded mercy for living beings; he thought of the salvation of beings; he beheld the overthrow of all wealth and misfortune ; he examined the‘nature of all accidents and fears of the world; he tore asunder the lasso of Méra and of Kali; he exerted himself to free himself from the trammels of the world; he wholly devoted his mind to Nirvaéna.
In this respect Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva was thoroughly cognizant of the defects of the world from beginning to end; he was by purification and discrimination undesiring ; he was by an act of renunciation free from desire ; he was facing the Buddha Nirvéna ; he was diverted from the world ; he was forward for the domain of Tath4gata; he was averse to the domain of Mara; he was acquainted with the blazing evils of the world ; he was desir- ous to extricate himself from the three elements ; he was proficient
in escaping from the evils of the world; he was desirous of |
mendicancy ; be was intent upon going away from home; he was bent on discrimination (between the real and the unreal) ; he was prompted by discrimination; he was bent forward by
[र
CHAPTER XIII. 245
the weight of discrimination ; he was disposed to go to the wilderness and wild places; he was longing for thorough discti- mination ; he was accomplished in effecting his own and other’s welfare; he was a hero in the knowledge of the hereafter; he was desirous of wealth for the world; he longed for the good of the world, the enjoyment of the world, and the Yoga and mercy for the world ; he was kind to the world; he derived benefit for the world; he rejoiced in benevolence ; he was highly merciful; he was proficient in matters worthy of collection; he was always self-controlled ; he was of wide grasping mind ; he was proficient in the moral law (Vinaya) which improves mankind ; he cherish- ed the feeling of affection for all beings as if they were his only son; heabjured all things with perfect disinterestedness ; he was engaged in the distribution of charity ; he was open-handed ; he was a hero in beneficence ; he had performed all sacrifices ; he was rich in virtue ; be had well collected virtue; he had well disciplined his mind about pride and vanity, and was perfectly free from them; he was unrivalled; he was the giver of the great gift, and had given 1४; he desiderated not the fruition of work; he was a hero in great gifts ; he was born for the oppression of the host of evils arising from desires, ardent desires, covetousness, faults, pride, vanity, delusion, envy and the like; he had prac- tised the art ह reparing the mind for omniscience; his mind was bent on (18 great renunciation; he was invested in mail ; he was kind to creation; he was well-wishing ; he was pro- tected by armour; he was possessed of the power and vigour of mercy for the emancipation of beings; he was the master of abnegation of self, equally and unchangeably kind to all beings; he satisfied the desires of every one according to his wish; he was the receptacle (lt. vase) of Bodhi; he was the measurer of virtue, undeterred by time; he had Bodhi knowledge for the object of his meditation ; his standard had never been lowered ; he had bestowed gifts for the purification of the three. circles; he struck with the adamantine thunder of knowledge ; he was for well-controlled pain ; his character was replete with
=
`
246 LALITA-VISTARA. —
the quality of good behaviour ; his object was to direct well the actions of the body, speech, and mind; he always looked with fear at even the minutest vileness; pure was his conduct; defectless and stainless was his mind ; his mind abhorred all evil discourse, harsh words, raillery, scandal, chastisement, reprimands, killing, imprisonment, restraint and pain; he was endowed with the aroma of forbearance $ his mind was unbroken, unstruck and unagitated ; he had, for the good of all beings, adopted the support of burning rigour; he was the root of all blessings; his memory was unfailing in the cause of religion; he was thoroughly learned; he had thorough self-control; he was of undisturbed mind; he had fixed his mind on concentrated medi- tation; he was an adept in spreading religion widely; he had attained the true light; he was free from cloud and darkness; his soul was untouched by unstayable pain; his heart dwelt on the picture of well-being; memory, understanding, thorough renunciation, occult powers, control of the organs, the stores of knowledge, the path, the most revered truths, all the condi- tions of the Bodhi knowledge were under his controul; his mind was invulnerable in the feeling of equality and fraternity ; he believed in the principle of production from cause ; knowing the truth he did not attribute the cause to a wrong source ; he de- lighted in the three passages to complete deliverance; he knew the following of all laws to be unreal as a delusion, a mirage, a dream, a moon in water, an echo, a reflection.
Now Bhikshus, this happened to the Bodhisattva. Thus ex- hilarated by the innumerable Gdthds issuing from the music through the influence of the Buddhas of the ten quarters of the globe, he at the time realised before him the four preliminaries of the former Bodhisattvas when they had matured their career in their zenana, and were about to attain their final stace. What were these four? They were Ist, charity, sweet speech, acquisi- tion of wealth, and equality ; this is called the duty of the appli- cation and purification of the fourfold acquired property which he brought face to face. The second was called the duty of reflec-
CHAPTER XIII. 24:7
tion on the race of the three jewels and the destruction, univer- sal knowledge, the knowing of the mind, the acquisition of the occult powers, and change, which he brought face to face. The third was called the duty of not forsaking all living beings, and the spread of mercy, which he brought face to face. The fourth was called the duty of non-recognition of differences, and firm belief in the religion of all the former Buddhas, which he brought face to face
Having thus brought face to face these four preliminaries of religion, the Bodhisattva, with a view to train the mind of his zenana (lit. to mature), at that moment effected the purification of his occult powers. This was effected by these and such like ७६४10६48 by hundreds of thousands through the sound of music influenced by the grace of the Bodhisattva
Thus :—
“To enliven mercy for living beings, and to prepare the mind for the great knowledge, words issued forth through the music in exquisite metres with an object, with a noble object. (1)
‘Faith, contentment, final emancipation, respect, pridelessness, submission to teachers, enquiry about what is good, research, remembrance, reflection,—these were the words which issued forth. (2)
“Charity, suppression of the passions, control of the mind and discipline were the words, forbearance was the word vigour was the word, meditation, renunciation, and ecstacy were the words, the means of knowledge was the word—which issued forth. (8)
५ Benevolence was the word, mercy was the word, content- ment, indifference, and knowledge were the words, the ameliora- tion of beings through the ascertainment of the four objects to be collected was the word—which issued forth. (4) |
‘Memory and special understanding were the words, the thorough suppression (of the passiens), the occult powers, the five organs of sense, the five different kinds of powers, the components of the Bodhi, were the words—which issued forth in music. (5)
248 LALITA-VISTARA.
“The distinction of the force of the eightfold path, and capacity were the words, the perception of the evanescent character of pain and disease, and the knowledge of there being no (immortal) soul were the words, the pain of misfortune was the word,—which issued forth in music. (6)
५ [01828810 was the word, discrimination was the word, knowledge of decay was the word, absence of a (first) creation was the word, non-destruction and non-habitation were the words, nihilation (Nirvana) was the word—which issued forth in music. (7)
‘These and such like words in music issued forth through the influence of the word Sambodhi ; on hearing which all beings were affectionately taught to incite the noble being in favour of knowledge.”’ (8)
Thus, Bhikshus, were the eighty-four thousand damsels purified by the Bodhisattva dwelling in his zenana. Innumerable were the hundreds of thousands of Devas, who happened to be there, who benefitted thereby in the knowledge of the sequenceless Bodhi.
Now at the time of the Bodhisattva’s renunciation of his home, a Devaputra of the region of Tushitakayika, named Hrideva, © who had acquired the thorough sequenceless Bodhi, at about the close of night, approached, with a retinue of 32,000 Devaputras, the place where the Bodhisattva resided, and from under the sky addressed him these Gathas :
“© lion among men! thou hast shown to the world thy glorious descent, thy birth, and thy career in the inner apart- ments, in which thou hast followed precedents. (1)
“Thou hast purified many in the world of humanity, having thyself acquired the true religion; this day is the time for thy departure ; pray reflect on it. (2)
“The manacled cannot effect ransom, nor can the blind point out the right path; the unmanacled can emancipate the fettered, and he who has eyes can point out the right path to the blind. (3)
CHAPTER XIII. 24.9
‘Those beings who are the slaves of their desires, who are attached to their homes, their wealth, their offspring and their wives,—even they, taught by thee, may direct their mind to re- nunciation. (4)
५ Knowing that forsaking sovereignty, sensuous gratifications, the four continents, and the seven jewels, thou wouldst issue forth, the world of men and gods eagerly anticipates it. (5)
Further, thou delightest in the pleasures of meditation and religion, and art not addicted to sensuous gratifications; do ye therefore, awaken gods and men by hundreds who are sleeping for ever so long. (6)
“ Quickly pass away youth, even as do unsteady and rapidly moving mountain torrents. The desire to renounce home after youth has deparied is not very praiseworthy. (7)
“It would be most appropriate, therefore, that the renuncia- tion should take place in the pride of youth. Redeem thy pro- mise, and subserve the good of the celestial host. (8)
` © No more is satisfaction derived by the gratification of sensu- ous desires, than is (thirst) allayed by the water of the salt sea. Thy satisfaction rests in the adorable, super-celestial, stainless knowledge. (9)
‘Thou art dear to king Suddhodana and his country, and lovely of countenance like a hundred-petalled lotus; do ye reflect on the disposition for renunciation. (10)
“‘Oh matchless hero, do quickly place on the road to salva- tion and peace those who are burning in the fire of pain, who are shelterless, and who are bound in oppressive fetters. (11)
‘Thou art proficient in the profession of the physician ; do ye, by the administration of the medicament of religion, quickly place in the felicity of Nirv4ya those beings who are diseased and ever in pain. (12)
‘* Quickly bestow the blessings of the eye of knowledge on men and gods who are stone-blind, eyeless, or whose sight is overcast by the net-work of deep delusion. (13)
32
250 LALITA-VISTARA.
^ Numerous are the Devas, Asuras, Nagas, Yakshas and Gan- dharvas who are cherishing this anticipation, ‘we shall see him attain the Bodhi; we shall listen to the matchless religion.’ (14)
““The king of serpents beholds his mansion illuminated by thy splendour ; his desire is that he will offer thee endless wor- ship in his home. (15)
“The four guardians of the quarters with their armies are anticipating thee, with the desire ‘we shall persent him four vases and the standard of Bodhi.’ Fulfil their desires. (16)
^ Brahma of the peaceful career longs to attain benevolence, speech, and mercy, (saying), ‘I shall adore the king of men, turning the matchless wheel.’ (17)
«५ The goddess purified by the Bodhiis chanting in the Bodhi- manda, ‘I shall behold him coming here and thoroughly ac- quiring the Bodhi.’ (18)
- © And men and gods who had beheld thy career in the inner apartments, (say) ‘be ye moving forward; there will be no career after that.’ (19) |
‘‘Call to mind the sweet sound, the sweet faultless speech of Dipafikara, and proclaim the unfailing sound of a Jina.” (20)
NOTES.
1. The ten powers of the Tathagata, p. 224. The word Dasabala is a specific name of Buddha, and Dr. Wilson, following a Hindu etymologist, explains it to mean “ powerful in the ten worlds;’’ but this passage shows clearly that the interpretation is not correct. The powers meant are (1) charity, (2) good conduct, (8) forbear- ance, (4) vigour, or determination, (5) meditation, (6) intelligence, — (7) power, (8) knowledge of means, (9) contemplation, and (10) transcendental knowledge. दान-शोल-त्मा-वोय्ये-ष्यान-परभ्ना-वलानि चख I खपायः भ्रणिधिन्नानं दश् वडबसानि वे ॥ The 7th includes supernatural or occult powers obtainable by the exercise of Yoga. Patanjali, in his Yoga aphorisms, (see my translation, chapter 3) describes a great number of these; but Hindu writers generally reduce them to eight, including
CHAPTER XIII. 251
(1) Animd or molecularity ; (2) Laghimd or extreme levity; (8) Prépti or accessibility; (4) Prakadmya or wilfulness; (5) Garimé or ponderosity ; (6) J’s'ité or sovereignty ; (7) Vas'ité or subjugation ; and (8) Kémdvasdyita or self-control. These are known by the names of vibhuti, riddhi, siddhi, bhiti, ais’varya and bala. The Buddhists generally use the last term, and I have frequently rendered it into “occult powers.”
2. The four Tathdgata accomplishments, p. 224. These include firm determination, earnest meditation, persevering exertion, and close investigation. ‘These are the means of obtaining the occult powers.
3. The eighteen sections of the Buddha religion, p. 225. These refer to the different courses of life that Buddhists may follow.
4. Turning the twelve-formed wheel of religion and its three transitions. The wheel of law is represented as having 12 radii, emblematic of the twelve niddnas or primary causer of all things and its three transitions are the three Yanas, or schools.
5. The five realities, p. 225. These are—(1) that pain is inseparable from mundane existence ; (2) that the cause of pain resides in desires ; (3) that the pain subsides on the cessation of desires ; (4) that the desires can be extinguished by knowledge; (5) that the knowledge consists in full appreciation of the truth.
6. Like the great ocean after it has reached the height of the tide, p. 225, 2. e., after the greatest tribulations have been surmounted. Even as after the high tide is over, there follows an ebb, so after the tribulations of life are over, there is a calm.
7. Surabhi flower, p. 227. This is the poetical celestial flower of the Hindus—the Pdrijdta. The Hindus use the word surabhi too. Commonly, the name 18 applied to the Erethrena fulgens, a tree bearing very bright red blossoms.
8. Threefold pain, p. 228. Pain proceeding—(1) from internal causes, (2) from natural and extrinsic causes, (3) from superhuman causes. See Wilson’s Sankhya-karika, p. 2.
_ 9. When thow wast born a son to a mortal, p. 229. The story occurs in the Bodhisattvdvadana-kalpalatd. All the stories referred to here occur in the Jatakas and Avadanas, and a good many have been preserved in stone on the rails andl gates of the Sanchi and the Bhérut Topes. Buddhists are greatly attached to the stories, and various re- censions are current among them. Some of them have been unques- tionably borrowed by the Hindus; others are of Hindu origin.
252 LALITA-VISTARA.
10. An irate king of the Kali age, p. 229. I remember the story, but cannot now find out the work in which it occurs.
11. Thow wast born the son of a Rishi, p. 230. This refers to the Das’aratha Jétaka—to the king who killed the son of a blind hermit. It occurs in the Sd&nchi gateway. See Fergusson’s Sanchi Tope, p. 208, and my Antiquities of Orissa, I, p. 89.
12. The lord of deer, p. 280. The story occursin the Mahkdvastu Avadina. See my Sanskrit-Buddhist Literature of Nepal, p. 123.
18. A bird approached thee, p. 28, The story occurs repeatedly in both Buddhist and Hindu legends; the latest English version occurs in Lord Lytton’s ‘ Glenaveril.’
14. Thow didst live as a parrot on a tree, p. 230. The story occurs in the Avadana S‘ataka.
15. The Mani jewel, p. 231. Described in Chapter V, vide ante, p. 33.
16. The yak preserves its hair, p. 231. The shaggy coat of long hair which covers the yak is its protection from the icy cold of the Tibetan plateau, and the animal is believed to be particularly careful , in its preservation.
17. O noble elephant! p. 231. This refers to the story of Buddha’s entering his mother’s womb in the form of an elephant, wide ante, p. 94. |
18. Thou didst carry on thy shoulders a man, p. 232. The story occurs in the Avadéna S’ataka.
19. A noble horse of a golden colour, p. 232. The Lord was born as a horse four times, and there are four different stories current. The one referred to here occurs in the Mahdvastu Avadéna, and an abstract of it is given in my Sanskrit-Buddhist Literature of Nepal, p. 155.
20. Thou wast Nimindhara, Nimi, Krishnabandhu, Brahmadatia and Kes‘ari, p. 288. These occupy a prominent part in Buddhist birth stories, and are described as princes of ancient times. 7
21. Thou didst as Soma (Sutasoma) Diptavirya,; and Punya- rasmi, p. 233. I am not certain whether the text means three persons, or one person (the first) having for his epithet the second and the third words. The story of Sutasoma occurs repeatedly in the Jatakas and the 4. १३१४788. Cf. Sanskrit- Buddhist Literature of Nepal, pp. 47—56. |
CHAPTER XIII. 258
22. The fivefold imperishable science in due order, p. 285. The true knowledge of the five realities. See Note 5, ante, p. 251.
23. There is nothing eternal in productions, p. 285 The 7110. sophy inculcated here is that everything in nature is evanescent. It is founded on the doctrine of Nibility or Sunyavdda, which is recognized by all the works of the Mahdydnasttra class of which the Lalitaevistara is one.
24. The horrible, dreadful, fierce, mighty jire at the end of the Kalpa, p. 285. This refers to the Hindu belief that at the end of each Kalpa, there 18 a mighty conflagration which reduces the world to ashes. The Buddhists borrow such cosmical doctrines very freely from their neighbours.
25. In the three perishable paths, p. 235. The Sanskrit word used is patha a road, and is a synonym of adhkman which in philo- sophical writings stands for condition. The three conditions are the antecedent, the postcedent, and the present conditions, and all things must pass through these conditions in course of time. See my translation of the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, p. 129.
26. In the lasso of the evil genius (Kali), p. 286. This 18 another instance of belief in the cosmological vagaries of the Purdnas. Kali is the ruler of the present age, and everything follows the course in which he guides it.
27. Age dries up both men and women, even as the Malu creeper destroys dense sél forests, p. 236. The Malu is a large vine which thrives best in the sub-Himalayan séla forests, where it so envelops the tree on which it ascends, as to destroy it soon. Those who are familiar with the plant cannot fail to appreciate the appropriateness of the simile.
Mr. Atkinson, in his वि, W. Gazetteer, Vol. X, p. 7238, says, “ it is the Bauhinia Vahlii, ष, ९ A.—Mdljau, mdlu. It is a large creeper that ocours rather commonly in the lower hills and upper Bhébar from the Jumna to Sarda, especially at the bottom of hot valleys and along the sides of precipices. The leaves are used for making umbrellas, and, sewn together with twigs, form baskets for holding pepper, turmeric, and ginger. They are also used as a substitute for plates at meals, and by the petty shop-keepers to wrap up the goods that they sell. This creeper often attains a length of 40 to 50 feet:
254 LALITA-VISTARA.
and is generally cut down in July—August, though it may be cut at all seasons. In its natural state it is used for making rope-bridges, but to manufacture rope from it, the outer bark is peeled off and thrown away, and the inner coating is steeped in water and twisted when wet. A large creeper will produce a maund of this fibre known as selu. Before being used, the bark is boiled and beaten with wooden mallets, which renders it soft and pliable enough for being made into rope and twine used in the erection of rope-bridges, for thatching, string- ing cots, andthe like. These ropes, though strong, are not very durable, and require occasional soaking, though, if constantly kept in the water, they rot quickly and altogether do not last more than eighteen months. The broad flat seed of the pod is eaten fried in clarified butter. Hooker, II, p. 279.”
Voigt gives the following botanical account of the plant; “ Tull Ghauts. Ravines at Kandalla. Morung Mountains. Kheree Pass. Deyra-Dhoon. Kemaon. Fl. largish, white, gradually becoming cream-coloured, March and April, for C. S. Leaves, often a foot each way, firm, tough, durable, collected in the N. Circars, and sold in the bazars for plates, lining baskets, covering packets, thatch- ing houses, &c. Seeds eaten raw; when ripe tasting like cashew- nuts. (Roxb.). Bark employed in making rope.”’ Hortus Subur- banus Calcuttensis, page 254.
28. All things proceed from the residua of former acts, p. 239. This is an allusion to the Yoga theory about instinct. Life being admitted as eternal and transmigration being an accepted doctrine of the faith, it is believed that every act leaves an impression, or resi- duum on the field of the mind, which lies dormant until revived, and as every work, good, bad or indifferent, leaves an impression, and the impression remains, the sum of them lead to repeated actions under given conditions. This is the doctrine of Karma or every work leading to a fruit, and nothing is produced which is not the fruit of a former work. Cf. my translation of the Yoga Aphorisms of Patapjali, pp. 176, 178, 179. |
29. Even as rope is made by power employed in uniting munja and valvaja bark, p. 240. In the present day rope is usually made with the munja bark alone, and it is common all over Northern India. I have nowhere seen the valvaja used as a conjunct. The text probably refers to some ancient local practice.
CHAPTER XIV. 255
CHAPTER XIV.
THE DREAM.
King S’uddhodana’s dream. His enquiry about the Prince. He causes three palaces to be built for constant enjoyment, and sets guards. The Prince pro- poses to go to the garden. The charioteer reports the circumstance to the king. He issues a proclamation, and makes arrangement for the procession. The Prince sees an old man in the way. The second procession, in course of which he sees a diseased person. The third procession, in course of which he sees a corpse, _ The fourth procession, in course of which he sees a hermit. Hearing of this account the king further strengthens the fortifications, sets guards, and directs constant jubilation in the palace. Confirmatory ७1148.
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, having been thus exhorted by the Devaputra, revealed this dream! to the king S’uddho- dana. When the king S’uddhodana was asleep, he saw in his dream that at the end of the night the Bodhisattva, surrounded by a large following of Devas, was issuing forth from the palace, and that, after coming out, he had accepted the condition of an ascetic and had put on an ochre-coloured garb. Waking up, he quickly enquired of the warder in attendance, ^ Is the Prince in the zenana ? ”
The warder replied, ^ Yes, sire.”
The spear of anguish pierced the heart of the king dwelling in the inner apartment. He saw this and other premonitory signs that the Prince for certain will depart.
Now it occurred to him, surely the Prince should no longer be permitted to visit the garden; he should always entertain himself here amidst the ladies.
Then three palaces fitted for use in different seasons were erected? by the king S'uddhodana for the entertainment of the Prince; the summer palace, the autumn palace, and the winter palace. The summer palace was delightfully cool; the autumn
286 LALITA-VISTARA.
one was temperate, and the winter one was warm by nature. The ladders of each of these palaces could not be raised or lowered by (less than) five hundred persons ; and the sound of their raising and lowering could be heard from a distance of half a yojana. Orders were issued that the Prince should never be permitted to go out of his own accord.
It had been predicted by astrologers and soothsayers that the Prince would depart through the ‘ Lucky Gate’ (or the Gate of Mars, Maftgaladvdra) ; so the king caused very heavy doors to be fitted to that gate. Each door could be opened or shut by the labour of (not less than) five hundred men, and the sound of the opening and the shutting would extend to a distance of half a yojana. The means for the gratification of the five senses were also collected, and damsels were always kept in attendance for singing, music and dancing.
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva ordered the charioteer, “ quick- ly get the chariot ready ; I propose to go to the garden.”
Thereupon the charioteer repaired to the king S'uddhodana, and said, ‘Sire, the Prince desires to proceed to the garden.”
The king reflected. The Prince has never been to the pleasure- garden to behold its well-laid parterres except in my company ; now, if the Prince should go there surrounded by ladies, he will be disposed to sport in dalliance and not think of renouncing his home. So, out of profuse affection for the Bodhisattva, he caused the news to be published by the ringing of bells through- out the town that on the seventh day the Prince would proceed to the pleasure-garden to behold the grounds; therefore the people should hide all offensive sights, so that the Prince may not see anything repulsive. All pleasant objects and auspicious sights should be put forth.
Now, on the seventh day the whole town was decorated. The garden was set off and spread over with flowers of various colours; and parasols, standards, and flags were set up every- where. The road by which the Bodhisattva would proceed was watered, smoothed, sprinkled with aromatic waters, scattered with
न णनि et
CHAPTER XIv. 257
joose flowers, made redolent with the incense of pills and pas- tilles, set off with pitchers full of water and plantain trees arranged in rows; many-coloured awnings were hung up every- where, and net-works decorated with jewelled bells and garlands were hung up. The fourfold army was set in array, and atten- dants were ready for the decoration of the Prince’s apartments.
The Prince started for the garden by the eastern gate, attended by a large retinue. Now, through the grace of the Bodhisattva and the devise of the Devaputras of the class S’uddhavasakayika, there appeared in front, in that road, an ema- ciated, old, decrepit person ; his body was covered with promi- ment veins; he was toothless, covered with flabby tendons, and grey-haired ; he was humped ; his mouth was sunken ;* he was broken down, diseased, and leaning on a staff. He had long passed his youth ; there was a rattling cough in his throat; bent forward by the weight of his body, he was leaning on a staff with the weight of his body and members.
Though knowing what the sight meant, the Bodhisattva thus questioned the charioteer :
“Who is this weak, powerless man, with dried-up flesh, blood and skin, prominent veins, whitened head, scattered teeth, and emaciated body, painfully tottering on, leaning on a staff?”
The charioteer replied 3 :
‘Lord, this is a person overpowered by age (decay, jard) ; his organs are feeble ; he is in pain, and his strength and vigour are gone. Abandoned by his friends, he is helpless and unfit for work, like wood abandoned in a forest.”
The Bodhisattva said: |
“Correctly explain, charioteer, if this be the peculiarity of his tribe, or is it the condition of the whole world? Quickly
® Lit. grooved as is the beam on which rests the thatch-frame of a hut. The idea is that the chin and the upper jaw remaining projecting, and the teeth being gone there was a groove or hollow between the upper and the lower jaws.
33
258 LALITA-VISTARA.
answer this according to fact, so that I may, on hearing it, enquire about its source.”
The charioteer replied : :
“ Lord, this is not a peculiarity of his race nor of his country. Age wears out youth in the whole creation. Even thou shalt be separated from the society of thy mother and father and kinsmen and relatives. There is no other lot for man.”
The Bodhisattva said : |
‘© Condemnable, charioteer, is the sense of the ignorant and the youthful, who, in the pride and intoxication of their youth, do not reflect on decay. Turn back the chariot, I do not wish to see (any thing farther). Of what avail are pleasures and enjoyments to me when I am subject to decay ?”
Then the Bodhisattva caused the chariot to be turned back, and entered the palace.
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, on another occasion, issuing with a large retinue through the southern gate of the town, proceeded towards the garden. In the way he beheld a diseased person, dried up, overcome with fever, weak, with his body immersed in his own filth, helpless and protectorless, and breathing with difficulty. Beholding this, the Bodhisattva, though knowing it, thus questioned the charioteer :
“Who is this man, charioteer, whose skin has lost its colour, whose organs are all out of order, who is breathing hard, whose whole body is dried up, whose abdomen is swollen, who in his helplessness lies immersed in his own offensive filth ? ”
The charioteer said :
“ He is, lord, a person greatly diseased, overpowered by disease and fear, lying at the point of death ; he has no vigour left for recovery, is totally bereft of strength, beyond help and relief, and devoid of support.”
The Bodhisattva said :
*“ Health is as the play of a dream; and so are the dreadful forms of disease and dread. How worthless is he of the name of asensible man, who, beholding this condition, indulges in pleasures and dalliance, fancying them to be good?”
CHAPTER XIV. 269
Thereupon the Bodhisattva caused the chariot to be turned back, and returned to the palace.
Now, Bhikshus, on another occasion the Bodhisattva started, with 8 large retinue, by the western gate for the garden. He beheld a dead man on the road, with a shroud over 010, and followed by his kinsmen, all crying, weeping and moaning with dishevelled hair, their heads bent down, beating their breasts and lamenting. Seeing this he, though aware of its nature, thus questioned the charioteer
** Charioteer, who is this man being carried on a bier, by men who are casting nails and hair and dust on their heads, and walking while beating their breasts and lamenting in many mournful words?”
The charioteer replied :
*‘Lord, this man has died in the Jambudvipa. Never more shall he behold his mother and father, his son and wife. Aban- doning his house of enjoyment, his mother and father, his rela- tives and kinsmen, he has attained the next world. He will never again cast a look on his kinsmen
The Bodhisattva exclaimed
% Fie on youth surrounded by decay; fie on health besieged by divers ailments; fie on man living a transient life; fie on the enjoyment of men of sense.
५५ Even were there not decay and disease and death, still there is the great pain to the sustainer of the fivefold senses (skandhas). What good 18 there in those who are always doomed to decay, disease and death? ‘Turn back, I shall reflect on their deliver- ance.”
Thereupon the Bodhisattva caused the chariot to be turned back, and returned to the palace.®
Now, Bhikshus, when the Bodhisattva, on another occasion, started with a large retinue for the garden by the northern gate,’ there appeared, through the grace of the Bodhisattva and the instrumentality of those Devaputras, a Bhikshu on the road. The Bodhisattva beheld that Bhikshu standing calm, quiet, self-
260 LALITA-VISTARA.
possessed, a perfect Brahmachéri ; his eyes turned not to this side ` or that side, but were directed to the junction of the two eyes® (the bridge of the nose); cheerfully following his path, cheerful in mo- tion, was cheerfully looking on every side, and cheerfully bearing both his alms-bow] and his vestment. Beholding him, the Bodhisattva, though aware of his nature, thus questioned the charioteer :
८८ Charioteer, who is this peaceful man of contented mind, whose eyes turn not in restlessness, but are fixed on the junction of the two, who is arrayed in ochre-coloured garment, who is of peaceful action, carrying his alms-bowl, and is neither haughty nor puffed up ?”’
The charioteer replied :
“Tord, he is a man of the order called Bhikshu. Having abjured all sensuous desires, he is of modest behaviour. Having accepted mendicancy, he beholds his own self and the outside world with the same feeling. Devoid of affection and enmity, he lives by begging.”
The Bodhisattva remarked :
«This is well said, and it meets my approbation. Mendicancy has always been held in esteem by the learned. Where there is welfare for self as well 23 for others there is happy living, and it bears sweet immortal fruit,”
Thereupon, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva caused his chariot to be turned back, and returned to the palace.?
Now, Bhikshus, the King Suddhodana, seeing how the Bodhi- sattva was thus affected, made arduous exertions for his protec- tion, He caused high walls to be built round the palace, a broad moat to be excavated, heavy doors to be hung, guards to be set up, veterans to be encouraged to do their work of guarding, vehicles to be kept in attendance, and coats of mail to be put, on. At the four principal gateways of the town, ९086 by the doors, he caused four large bodies of troops to be stationed for the protection of the Bodhisattva, so that they may be day and night on the watch, and prevent the Bodhisattva from going
CHAPTER XIV. 261
away. In the inner apartments he issued orders, saying, ^^ Let there be no cessation of music; let all sensuous enjoyments be practised ; let all feminine charms be displayed; and let the Prince be so engaged that, his mind being occupied, he may not retire to mendicancy.”
On this subject the following Gath4s may be cited :
‘At the gate were stationed valiant warriors, armed with swords and other weapons. There were stationed elephants, horses, chariots, and mail-clad veterans mounted on elephants. Moats were excavated, majestic arches and lofty walls were erected, many doors were hung most firmly, and their motion produced a sound which was audible from the distance of two miles (a kros’a.) (1)
“The S‘Akyas with downcast mind guarded the gates night and day, and the roar of their mighty vigour reverberated every- where. The citizens were greatly distressed, and were full of fear lest the beautiful Prince should depart and forsake them, for the departure of this scion of the S'4kya race would destroy the royal line. (2)
‘The young ladies had orders not to stop the music; con- stantly to indulge in sensuous pastimes; to keep the mind enthralled ; to display their feminine charms in every possible way, and to make every exertion to put obstruction in the way of the handsome one’s departure. (8)
At the time of the departure of the noble charioteer there will be seen these omens: ducks, herons, peacocks, mainas, and par- rots will become dumb. Im the palace, at the windows, at the gateways, on terraces, and pavilions people will sit sighing in grief, and thinking with their heads bent down. (4)
‘In the tanks and lakes the handsomest lotuses will become _ faded, the trees will be bereft of leaves and blossoms, and none will flower; the strings of the vind, the vallaki and other musi- cal instruments will snap asunder, and trumpets and drums will, without being struck, burst, and produce no music. (5)
‘The people were afflicted at heart; the whole town was
262 LALITA-VISTARA.
immersed in a horrid sleep $ no one’s mind was turned to dancing, or singing, or pleasure ; the king himself was in deep grief, and distracted by the apprehension that the high glory of the S‘ékya race would be destroyed. (6)
^ Gop4 was sleeping in a separate bed, as was the king, and at midnight she dreamt this dream ; the whole earth was being shaken, as also the mountains with their stony crests ; and trees, torn from their roote by the wind, lay on the ground. (7)
“The moon and the sun did not shine, but were cast on the ground along with the starry host. She saw her hair had been clipt by her right hand, her crown broken, her hands cut off, and 80 were her feet, and she was denuded. Her pearl necklace was torn, and she saw the shepherd’s daughter (a play on the name Gop4) quite mutilated. (8)
She saw her bedstead divested of its four feet and lying on the ground. She beheld the well-decorated and handsome staff of the king’s umbrella broken in twain, and all his ornaments lying defaced and scattered in water. Her husband’s ornamente and dress and crown she beheld in distress lying on the bed. (9)
‘She beheld meteors shooting forth from the town, and the palace immersed in darkness. In her dream she saw the well- decorated jewelled lattices all broken and showy pearl garlands lying scattered ; the great ocean was in trouble, and the mountain king Meru torn from its place and trembling. (10)
“These sights saw the S’akya daughter in her dream, and, waking after the dream, with terror-struck eyes she thus addressed her husband: ‘ Lord, say what will happen to me; I can remember having seen no such dream before, and my mind is greatly agitated.’ (11)
“ Hearing this, the prince replied to Gopé in a voice sweet as the twitter of the sparrow, deep as the sound of the drum, and venerable as that of Brahmé, ^ Be of good cheer; no evil can happen to you. Only persons who have performed many vir- tuous deeds can behold a dream like this; none who has gone through many pains can dream such a dream. (12)
“st
५१
CHAPTER XIV. 263
«¢ What you have seen of the quakings of the earth and of broken peaks fallen an the ground, are nothing more than Devas, Nagas, Rdékshasas and beings in general, offering you the highest adoration. (13)
८८ «What you have seen of trees uprooted and of your hair torn with the right hand, mean that you, Gopa, will quickly rend asunder the trammels of pain, and relieve thy purified vision of all objects of longing. (14)
८८ ‹ What you have seen of the sun and the moon fallen down, and of stars and planets cast down, mean, dear Gopé, that you will, having destroyed all inimical pains, become the adored and admired of the world. (15)
‘©¢ What you have seen of discoloured pearl-necklaees, and of nakedness of your entire body, imply that you, 608, will soon exchange your feminine body for that of a man for ever. (16)
““¢ What you have seen of your bedstead dislocated of its feet, and of the staff and ornaments of the umbrella broken, mean that you, 608, will, crossing the fourfold sin, behold me the only umbrellaed one in the three regions, (17)
९८८ What you have seen of ornaments cast about, and my head- dress and apparel heaped on my bedstead, mean that you, Gopé, will soon behold my person with its auspicious marks bepraised in every region. (18) |
९८८ What you have seen of the hundred millions of lights darting out of the town, and of the palace being immersed in darkness, indicate that I shall, dear Gopé, diffuse the light of knowledge in the regions now enveloped in the darkness of delusion. (19)
५८१ What you have seen of the pearl necklace destroyed and its rich golden thread torn, betoken that I, rending asunder the network of pain, shall soon redeem the thread of understanding after punfying it. (20)
**¢ Since, Gopé, you picture me in your (mind) with respect and utmost endeavour, during your daily worship, there is no mishap or grief in store for you ; soon shall you attain gratifica- tion and pleasure. (21) |
264 LALITA-VISTARA.
५ ‹ In former times alms were bestowed by me, good behaviour practised, and forbearance always cultivated; therefore, they shall all enjoy gratification and pleasure who attain my grace. (22)
“‘Endless purifications have been effected by me for ten millions of years (kalpas), and the path of the Bodhi purified by my exertions; therefore they shall all rend asunder the threefold sin who attain my grace. (23) |
८५८ Be of good cheer, and grieve not; feel satisfied, and cultivate affection; you will soon be the possessor of gratification and pleasure. Know, dear Gop4, that these signs are auspicious to you.’ (24) |
‘The being who was full of the glory of virtuous deeds, whose head was the fountain of vigour, dreamt the premonitory dreams which become manifest at the time of departure from home of the noblest of beings, full of the merits of former good deeds. (25) |
‘He beheld immense hands and feet immersed in the waters of the four great oceans, the earth was in deep sleep, and the noble mountain Meru had bent down its head. (26)
‘In dream a light was seen which showed that every one on the earth was immersed in dense darkness, An umbrella was uplifted on the earth, and it was resplendent in the three regions, and on whomsoever its light fell he was freed from all distress, and was restored to peace. (27) |
‘Four beautiful animals of a black colour were scratching (the earth) with their hands and feet ; a wonderful bird of four colours changed into one colour was seen walking over a mound of vile, disgusting filth without being in any way soiled. (28)
८ Again he saw in his dream a river full of water whereby were many millions of beings, and he was ferrying them over and placing them on firm ground where there was neither fear nor grief. (29)
‘‘Again, he beheld numerous decrepit people, afflicted with disease, devoid of the capacity for recovery, and totally bereft of strength, and he, becoming a physician, was, by the administra- tion of various medicaments, curing them by millions. (80)
CHAPTER XIV. 265
“He saw himself seated on a throne on the top of the Sumeru mountain, and disciples with folded hands were humbly saluting him. He saw himself victorious in the midst of a battle, and the immortals in the sky were cheering him with delightful sounds. (31)
‘These were the dreams which the Bodhisattva dreamt; they were full of auspicious and charming deeds, and by hearing of them men and gods were filled with delight. It will not be long before this noble being will become the god of gods and
men.” (32)
NOTES.
1. The Bodhisattva, having been thus exhorted by the Devaputra, revealed this dream, p. 255. The southern versions make no reference to the dream. The ‘ Buddha-charita’ is, likewise, silent aboutit. But the ‘Romantic History’ amplifies it greatly. According to it the Devaputra T’so-Ping caused seven dreams to appear to the king. In the first the king beheld “a great imperial banner like that of Indra, around which were gathered innumerable crowds of people, who, lifting it and holding it up, proceeded to carry it through Kapilavastu, and finally went from the city by the Eastern gate.” The second made the Prince mount a chariot drawn by great elephants and go out by the Southern gate. The third sent out the Prince mounted on a four-horse chaise by the Western gate. ‘The fourth exhibited a discus going out by the Northern gate. ‘The fifth showed the Prince striking a drum with a large mace in the middle of the four great highways of the city. The sixth placed the Prince on a high tower from which he scattered jewels to a large crowd there assembled. The seventh exhibited six men in the suburbs of the city, wailing and plucking their hair in grief.
The king, upon seeing these, was greatly distressed, and convened a council at night, and another the next morning; but the Brahman
34
266 LALITA-VISTARA.
expounders of dreams in his court failed to interpret the dreams. The Devaputra who had caused the dreams then appeared in court in disguise, and expounded the dreams, the exposition in substance being that the Prince would renounce the world. Beal’s ‘Romantic Legend,’ pp. 111 fA
2. Then three palaces fitted for use in different seasons were erected, p. 255. The ‘Romantic Legend’ interpolates the palaces in its account of the Prince’s attaining his majority. See ante, Note 1, p. 217. So does the Siamese text, which describes the palaces and their decorations in some detail. Alabaster’s ‘Wheel of the Law,’ pp. 119 et seg.
8. The Bodhisattva ordered the charioteer, “quickly get the chariot ready + I propose to go to the garden,” p. 256. The ^ Roman- tic Legend’ accounts for the desire to go to the garden by saying that the Devaputra T’so-Ping so influenced the songs of the ladies in the palace that they all related to the charms of the garden in mid- _ spring, and they created a longing for outdoor recreation. Beal’s ‘Romantic Legend,’ pp. 107, 115. The dream is spontaneous accord- ing to Bigandet.
4. Now on the seventh day the whole town was decorated, p. 256.
This is a repetition of the preparations made for the tournament, {ante, p. 203).
5. Lord, this is a person overpowered by age, p. 257. The reply of the charioteer, according to the ‘ Buddha-charita,’ in this, as in the subsequent cases, was inspired by the Devaputra. (Beal’s version, p. 33.) It would also have it that the sights seen were visible only to the Prince and his charioteer, but not to the retinue of the Prince (p. 36).
6. 7. The Bodhisattva caused the chariot to be turned back, and returned to the palace, p. 559. The Bodhisattva on another occasion, started with a large retinue for the gurden, by the northern gate, p. 659. The return and departure, according to the ‘ Buddhacharita,’ did not take place as stated here. =“ The charioteer, remembering the king’s exhortation, feared much nor dared go back; straight forward then he pressed his panting steeds, passed onward to the gardens, (came to) the groves and babbling streams of crystal water, the pleasant trees, spread out with gaudy verdure.’’ The ladies in
CHAPTER XIV. 267
the garden surrounded the Prince and tried their utmost, by the dis- play of their amorous arts and other fascinations, to entertain the Prince, but failed. The Prince remained unmoved. Udayi, the minister’s son, then came to him, and argued with him at great Jength in order to divert him from his mournful mood. He specially adverted to the instances of Visvamitra, Agastya, Gautama, Safkha, Indra, Vrihaspati, Parasgara, Kavafga and other great Brahmanic saints who had succumbed te the charms of the fair sex. The Prince, however, was greatly superior to him in dialecties, and eompletely defeated him. The ladies, failing to entertain the Prince, returned to the city in shame and sorrow, and when the garden was deserted by all others, the Prince himself came back, deeply immersed In painful thoughts. Beal’s ‘ Buddha-charita,” pp. 37—46.
8. Directed to the junction of the two eyes, p. 260. According to the Yogis, the best way to prevent the mind from wandering during meditation is to keep the eyes directed towards the tip of the nose; but here the bridge of the nose is preferred, though it is not always visible. See my translation of Patanjali, p. 22.
9. The Bodhisattva caused his chariot to be turned back, and’ seturned to the palace, p. 260. The ‘ Buddha-charita’ has given quite a different version. According to 10 the occasion is that of the ploughing match (ante, p. 190), when the Prince, after seeing the exer~ eises of the husbandmen, retired to a corner and took his seat under a jambu tree. A Devaputra came to him in the disguise of a Bbikshu, and lectured him on the vanity of the world. On his way back from, the garden the Prince met his kinsmen and friends “all of whom, joined in relationship, dreaded the pain of separation.” Hearing the words “separation and association” his mind turned towards her- mitage, and he repaired to his father, to obtain his permission to retire from the world. (Beal’s version, pp. 47 to 52.) ‘Fhe Burmese. version gives a different turn to the story. Aecording to it the Prince was returning from the ploughing match in great pomp and state, and when he entered the city, a princess, “named Keissa Gautami, was contemplating from her apartments the triumphant entrance of Phralaong into the city. Sbe admired the noble and graceful deportment of Prince Meiddat, and exclaimed with feelings of inexpressible delight, ‘Happy the father and mother who have-
268 LALITA-VISTARA.
such an incomparable son! happy the wife who is blest with such an accomplished husband!’ On hearing those words, Phralaong desired to understand their meaning and know their bearing. ‘By what means,” said he to bimself, ‘can a heart find peace and happi- ness?’ And he set about ardently for the happy state of Nirvana.” (Bigandet’s Legend I, pp. 58 f.) The ‘Romantic Legend’ [p. 21] relegates the visit tothe king for his permission after the interview with the Bhikshu.
CHAPTER XV. 269 CHAPTER XV.
THE RENUNCIATION.
The Bodhisattva thinks of leave-taking. Appears before his father’s palace, Leave obtained. Arrangements to prevent the Prince’s departure. Gautami’s arrangements. The four resolves of the Bodhisattva. Distorted and disgusting condition of the ladies of the palace. The Bodhisattva’s 32 reflections. His vision of the celestial hosts worshipping him. His conversation with Chhandaka. Celestial hosts come to worship him, Poetical description of the departure. Grief of the guardian divinity of the city. The Bodhisattva’s progress. He parts with his horse and ornaments, cuts off his top-knot and puts on a hermit’s garb. Grief in the palace on the Prince’s departure. Return of Chhandaka to the palace. Gopa’s grief. Chhandaka’s description of the departure.
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva thus reflected; “it would be unbecoming and ungrateful on my part if I should go away without informing the great king S’uddhodana and obtaining the permission of my father.” Accordingly, in the depth of the night, descending from the palace ‘in which he was dwelling, he went and stood before the palace of the great king S’uddhodana. As he stood, the whole of the palace became ablaze by the light of his person. The king was thereby awakened, and seeing the light, he called the warder, and asked, “ Warder, has the sun arisen from which comes this light ? ”
The warder replied: “ Lord, the first half of the night has scarcely yet transpired.
“¢The light of the sun produces shadows of trees and walls; it heats the body and produces perspiration ; and ducks, peacocks, parrots, koels, and brahmani-geese raise their respective voices at break of day. (1)
५५ ९ पाऽ light, however, lord of men, is pleasant and gratify- ing; it is an exciter of gladness and beneficial; it produces no burning sensations; of walls and trees there is no shadow: it is doubtless due to (our) attaining this day some merit.’ (2)
270 LALITA-VISTARA.
“ He, the king, from his seat, cast his eyes on the ten sides $ he beheld near him the pure being of faultless eyes. He wished to arise from his bedstead, but did not, the owner of might and knowledge showed his respect for his father (by advancing towards him). (3)
‘The Prince, standing in front, thus addressed the king: ‘ Do not interrupt me any more, nor should you grieve. Lord, the time and moment for my departure having arrived, pardon me, king, on your part and on the part of your kin and people for my act.’ (4)
“The king, with tearful eyes, thus replied te him: ‘ what ad- vantage will there be by thy departure? Ask whatever you re- quire, and I shall grant it. Be merciful to the royal race, to me, and to the kingdom.’ (9)
५८ The sweet-voiced Bodhisattva thus responded : ^ Lord, I desire that you should give me four blessings, should you be able to grant them, and with them I shall abide here, and you will always see me in the house, for I shall not depart. (6)
५५८ [ desire, lord, that decay shall never assail me, and I shalk continue in my youthful radiance all along. I should always remain in health, and no disease shall attack me. I should be of unmeasured life, and never be subject to death. (7)
८८५] should always be abundantly wealthy, and no misfortune shall assail me.” The king was overpowered with deep grief on hearing these words. ‘Son, you want what I have no power to grant. The fear of decay, disease, and death as also of misfortune, (8)
Sages, even after living for eons (kalpas), have not been able to overcome.’
^ Hearing these words of his father, the Prince said, ‘ Lord, if you cannot now grant me the four blessings,—freedom from the fear of decay, disease, death and misfortune,—(9)
€ ^ Then listen, king, to my prayer for another gift; it is departure ; offer me no obstruction.’ On hearing these words of the noble being, the king suppressed his love and rent asunder the bonds of filial affection. (10)
CHAPTER Xv. 271
५८ ९ Your desire for the emancipation of the world is worthy of encouragement, as it will be beneficial. May your wishes be fulfilled” 2" (11) ।
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, returning to his palace, sat on his couch. None could know anything of his going and coming.
Now, Bhikshus, when the night had ended, king S’uddhodana assembled the SAkyas, and, relating all the facts, asked them: <*The Prince is sure to depart. What should we do?”
The S’4kyas said, ^ Lord, we shall protect him.”
“ How?”
The S’4kyas said, “ We are a host of S’ékyas, and he is alone. What power has he to defeat us by force?”
Thereupon five hundred scions of the S/Akya race, well-armed, highly proficient, well taught in the use of the arrow and other arms, and of mighty power in gymnastics, were, by order of the king, posted at the Eastern gate of the town for the protection of the Bodhisattva. Each of these scions had under him five chariots and a hundred retainers, and each chariot had five fighting men and a hundred followers, and these were posted for the protection of the Prince. Similar bodies of guards were placed at the Southern, Western and the Northern gates (the details are re- peated in the text). Elderly S’Akyas, both male and female, placed themselves at every square, at every cross-road and highway, to protect the Prince. King S’uddhodana, attended by a retinue of five hundred chiefs mounted on horseback or on elephants, kept watch all night at the gate of his own palace. _
“The Gautama lady Mahdprajdpati sent for her attendants (and ordered them), ‘ Do ye place bright lights at the door, and set up beacon lights bright as the mani jewel on staffs ;* hang up strings of lights and make this house refulgent. (1)
५५ ‹ Hingage yourselves in music; keep yourselves awake without winking all aight; and watch the Prince, so that he may not depart without any one knowing it. (2)
८८ ८ Attired in mail, holding quivers, and armed with swords, bows, arrows, iron spears, iron clubs, let every one exert for the protection of my dear son. (3)
272 LALITA-VISTARA.
“¢ Close all the gateways with their massive doors, mounted on machines and chains ; open them not at improper times, nor allow a single soul to go out of this place. (4)
*¢ Decorate yourselves with jewelled necklaces, with pearl necklaces, with face ornaments, with crescents, with chains, zones, earrings, chaplets of coins* and anklets.
९८ ८ Should he suddenly start for the good of men and gods, like a mad elephant, do you so exert your power as not to hurt him. (6) |
< ^ ¶]1086 of you women holding lances, who protect. the bedstead of the Prince,’ be not drowsy, but keep your eyes open like birds. (7)
“¢ For the protection of the king cover this room with jewelled ˆ net-work. Recite sweet letters and sounds all the night through, and protect the defectless. (8)
५५८ Let each awake the next; be not remiss; watch all through the night, so that he may not depart, forsaking his kingdom and his royalty. (9)
५९८ Qn his departure everything in the royal race will be grievous, and this royal line of long standing will be cut off.’ (10)
Now, Bhikshus, twenty-eight great Yaksha generals led by Panchika, the Yaksha generalissimo, and five hundred sons of Hariti (a Yakshini) assembled and held this consultation: ‘ This day, venerable sirs, the Bodhisattva will make his departure ; it is meet, therefore, that we should exert ourselves for his worship.”
The four great kings (of the quarters), entering the metropolis named A dakavati, invited a large concourse of Yakshas ; “this day, venerable sirs, the Bodhisattva will make his departure, and it is meet that he should issue with the feet of his horse sus- tained by you.’
The Yaksha assemblage said; ^ His nature is as hard as the thunderbolt ; that noblest of beings is infrangible, Nardyana himself, endowed with immense power and vigour, and never to be shaken. One may pluck the great Meru as easily as if it were a common hillock, and hold it aloft in the sky; but none can
. CHAPTER XV. | 978
support him who is weighted with the Meru mountain of Jina merits and endowed with virtue and knowledge.”
Vais'ravana said: ^ He, the ruler, is heavy to those men who are inflated with vanity; but know that he is light to those who are weighted with love. With exertion and earnestness apply yourself, and you will find him as light as a floss of cotton flying in the air. I shall march in front ; do you bear the horse. In the departure of the Bodhisattva there is a large fund of virtue and respectability. ”
Now, Bhikshus, Sakra, the king of the gods, addressed the Devas of Trayastrifiga: “ this day the Bodhisattva will make his departure, therefore you all should earnestly apply yourselves to his worship.”
A Devaputra of the name of Lalitavytha said, “I shall in the meanwhile put to sleep all men, women, boys and girls in the great city of Kapilavastu.”’
S‘4ntasumati, another Devaputra, said, “I shall at the same time make the sound of all the horses, elephants, donkeys, camels, buffaloes, women, men, boys and girls to melt away and be inau- dible.”
Vytibamati, a Devaputra, said, “I shall prepare the road through which the Bodhisattva will make his exit by erecting under the sky a line of benches measuring in length seven cars, and resplendent as the diamond and the Mani jewel; by setting up along the line parasols, flags, and pennons; by strewing on it various kinds of flowers; and by making it redolent with the aroma of diverse incenses, pills and pastilles.”’
The Néga king, Airavata, said, “I shall hold up on my tronk a pavilion thirty-two yojanas in extent. Ascending on it the Apsarasas may engage in concert, and by music and songs offer due homage to the progress of the Bodhisattva.”
S’akra himself, the king of the Devas, said, “ I shall throw open the doors and point out the way
Dharmach4r{, a Devaputra, said, “I shall make the palace to
appear repulsive 35
274 LALITA-VISTARA.
Sanchodaka, a Devaputra, said, ‘I shall make the Bodhi- sattva arise from his bed.”
Then the Naga kings Varuna, Manasvi, Ségara, Anavatapta, Nanda, and Upananda, thus remarked: ^“ We too shall engage ourselves in the worship of the Bodhisattva; we shall produce a cloud befitting the season, and shower therefrom powdered Uraga- 8६7४ sandal-wood.”
Thus, Bhikshus, did the Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, and Gan- dharvas deliberate and settle their resolves.
When the Bodhisattva was reclining on his bedstead in the female apartments of the palace of music, and cogitating about religion, and thinking of the careers of former Buddhas and the good of the whole creation, four of his former desires pre- sented themselves prominently before bis mind. What were these four? ^ Desiring the supremacy of Sayambhu and the faculty of omniscience I had fortified myself with this resolve. Beholding living beings in pain, I had said, Ah, yes, rending asunder the wheel of the world, I shall proclaim the sound of redemption to ५९६6 people who have fallen bound on the great wheel of the world; I shall redeem the beings who are loaded with the heavy fetters of desires.” This was the first former desire which became prominent. |
५८ Ah, yes, I had said, I shall spread the light of religion, the destroyer of the darkness of ignorance, for the people who have been lost in the wilderness of the world’s ignorance and darkness, and whose eyes are enveloped in the case of the darkness of ignorance, and who are devoid of the eye of wisdom. Showing the lamp of knowledge, by administering the medicine of the threefold emancipatory knowledge, with the adjunct of means (updya) and wisdom (prajnd) I shall cure the eye of knowledge of those who are blinded by all engrossing ignorance, darkness and dense mass of impervious obscurity.”? This was the second former desire which became prominent.
« Ah, yes, I had said, for those who have uplifted the standard of vanity, who have immured themselves in pride and selfishness,
CHAPTER XV. 975
who are in the grasp of the shark of selfishness (lit. me and mine,)} I shall reetify the power of cognition, and, by pointing out the true path to those who are in the quest of self, knock down the flag of vanity.” This was the third former desire which became prominent.
“‘ Ah, yes, I had said, for those who are of peaceless mind, who are drowsy, who are eovered with the veil of quahty, who have a velocity which is no velocity, who are whirling about from this region to another, and from: that to this, who are not retired from the world, who are mounted on the wheel of fire, I shall unfold a peaceful and sense-satisfying religion.”? This was the fourth former desire that became prominent.
At this moment the inner apartments were made to appear distorted and repulsive by Dharmaché4ri, the Devaputra, through eertain Devaputras of the class S’uddhévisakéyika. Having made everything appear in a disordered and inauspicious form, the celestials, from under the sky, thus addressed the Bodhisattva in Gathas:
They said, “the great sages, sons of gods, know that thy eyes are wide open like a full-blown lotus; how can you feel any pleasure in dwelling on this cremation ground ?”
Thus exhorted by the chief gods, the Bodhisattva for a moment cast his eyes on the inner apartments; he saw, in short, the ladies lying naked on a cremation ground.
He, the Bodhisattva, cast his eyes.on the ladies; he looked at them with attention, (he found) some of them had their dresses in disorder; some of them had their tresses dishevelled ; some of them had theiy ornaments scattered about; some had their tiaras knocked off; some had their chins resting on ther ‘shoulders; some had their mouths distorted; some had their eyes staring ; some had saliva flowing down their mouths; some ‘were groaning ; some were laughing; some were talking wildly ; some were grinding their teeth; some had their faces dise coloured; some had their beauty disfigured; some had their arms extended; some had their faces distorted; some had
——— वन कवक 2) अनि न
276 LALITA-VISTARA.
their heads uncovered ; some had their heads veiled; some had their faces twisted on one side; some had their bodies muti- lated ; some had their members broken ; some were humped ; some were troubled with a racking cough ; some were reclining on drums (mridafigas) with their bodies and heads twisted ; some were lying unconsciously while holding in their hands vin4, vallaki and other musical instruments ; some were making a noise with their teeth by biting their flutes ; some were knocking on the kimpala, nae kula, sampa, tadava,’ and other musical instruments; some were winking and opening their eyes ; some were gaping wide. Behold- ing this repulsive scene of the ladies lying on the ground, the Bodhisattva realised in his mind the idea of the cremation ground.
On this subject this may be said :
< Beholding these, that lord of beings, drawing a merciful sigh, thus spoke in distress: ‘Alas! how can I associate with the beings here assembled ; I must retire to asceticism. Those who associate with worldly persons, immersed in the darkness of delusion and indulging in evil disposition and sensuality, are hike birds in a cage; they never acquire their freedom.”
Now, the Bodhisattva, having again examined with the open= = ing light of religion the inner apartments and the beings there, and aggrieved by the sense of profound sorrow, thus gave vent to his lamentation
(1) These stupid beings are being slaughtered, even as the condemned are by hangmen,
(2) These stupid beings are taking delight, even as the ige 9072806 do, in well-painted vases filled with offal,
(3) These stupid beings are sinking, even as elephants do in “water,
(4) These stupid beings are being fettered, as are thieves in a prison,
_ (5) These stupid beings are disposed, asare pigs, to rush into filth, |
(6) These stupid beings are attached, as are dogs, to hollow bones,
CHAPTER XV. 277
(7) These stupid beings are dropping, like moths, into the flame of a lamp, (8) These stupid beings are being destroyed, as are monkeys in a trap, (valaya means both a trap or enclosure as also bracelets), (9) These stupid beings are being tortured, as fishes caught in a net (10) These stupid beings are being vexed, as are serpents by sticks, (11) These stupid beings are being impaled, as are malefac- tors on spikes, (12) These stupid beings are rotting, even as weak elephants do in ॐ morass, (18) These stupid beings are in distress, as are those whose ships are wrecked in mid-ocean, (14) These stupid beings are precipitating themselves, as the born-blind do in a large waterfall (15) These stupid beings are progressing, like water ina crevice, downwards to the nether regions, (16) These stupid beings are being smashed, as is the great earth at the end of an eon, (17) These stupid beings are whirling like a potter’s wheel turning on its pivot (18) These stupid beings are kept roaming about like the born-blind on a mountain, (19) These stupid beings are pulling at different sides like leashed dogs, (20) These stupid beings are being dried up like grass and ‘trees 10 summer, (21) These stupid beings are wasting like the moon in the -wane (22) These stupid beings are being eaten up, as are serpents by Garuda, (28) These stupid beings are being devoured like boats by a . great whale, (makara)
* Not given in M. Foucaux’s translation.
278 LALITA-VISTARA.
(24) These stupid beings are being despoiled like caravans by robbers,
(25) These stupid beings are being broken down like séla trees by a storm,
(26) These stupid beings are being killed like animals by fierce poison,
(27) These stupid beings, full of desires, are being cut up, like children, by razors dipped in honey,
(28) These stupid beings are being carried away like wood on a strong current of water,
(29) These stupid beings are playing, like infants, with their own excrement,
(30) These stupid beings are being struck, like elephants, with the goad (afkuéa),
(31) These stupid beings are being destroyed like little chil- dren by rogues,
(82) These stupid beings are throwing away the root of all good, like wealth by gamblers, _ (83) These stupid beings are being eaten up like the mer- chants by the Rakshasis
Having by (the sound of) these thirty-two remarks” filled the inner apartments, the Bodhisattva conceived the improprieties of the corporeal form, suppressed the idea of repulsion, produced the idea of abhorrence, reflected on his own age, beheld the wretched condition of the body, perceived that one body pro- ceeded from another, reflected on the idea of welfare, suppressed the idea of ‘misfortune, and from the sole of his foot to the top of his head be examined his body; he found it had arisen from impurity, it consisted of impurity, and it continually discharged impurity. At this juncture the following verses were recited :—
“The crop of the field of works is nurtured by the water of - desire, and 18 called body. It is disfigured by tears, perspiration, and exudation of urine; pervaded by molecules of blood; full of the secretions of the pelvis and the head, of pus, fat, and sanies; daily watered by disease; it is replete with filth, and redolent with repulsive odours of various kinds. (1)
CHAPTER XV. 279
“Tt is a composition of bones, teeth, hair, and fibres; it is encased in an envelope of skin, and covered with hair; within it there are spleen, liver, serum, saliva; itis weak; it is bound by marrow, and tendons, like a (musical) instrument, and shaped with flesh ; it is environed by diverse diseases; it has griefs, and is oppressed by hunger and thirst. (2)
“It is, to living beings, a hell with many portals, an abode of death and decay. Who is the sensible person, who, beholding all this, can call his body, the domain of enemies, his own?” (8)
Thus did the Bodhisattva reflect on the body while abiding in his body.
The Devaputras, assembled under the sky, thus addressed
Dharmachart, a Devaputra. - © How is it, sir, that the Bodhisattva 18 still tarrying ? He is looking at the female apartments, he is examining them, and excite ing the mind ; he is repeatedly closing his eyes. Is it, that this being, profound as the ocean, is unable to fathom the depth; or is his mind not able to renounce his companions? Let him not invoked by the pure ones, forget his former resolve
Dharmachéri replied : “ Say not so; knowing that, even before this (sight), he had, by the practice of Bodhi, become free. F one who has, by the renunciation of work, already arrived at the last stage; how doubt you that he will be free ? °
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, with firm resolve, unfaltering mind, and determined understanding, descended from the bed- stead, with ease proceeded to the Palace of Music, and, stand- ing, facing the east, lowered the jewelled lattice with his right hand! Then entering the chamber, he folded his hands so as to make all his ten nails meet; he invited all the Buddhas of former times, and, saluting them, cast a look towards the sky. He there beheld the sovereign of the immortals, he of a thousand eyes, surrounded by a hundred thousand Devas, holding flowers, incenses, aromatics, flower-garlands, unguents, powders, dresses, parasols, flags, pennons, earrings, jewelled necklaces, and strings, and, with bended body, saluting him.
280 LALITA-VISTABA.
He beheld, likewise, the four guardians of regions, all attired in armour and mail-coats, armed with swords, bows, arrows, iron clubs, lances, tridents, beautifully decorated with crowns and crests of jewels, and attended by Rakshas, Rékshasas, Gandharvas, and Nagas saluting him.
He beheld, also, the sun and the moon, the two sons of gods, standing on his two sides, and Pushya, the prince of constella- tions, had arisen.
Seeing that midnight had arrived, the Bodhisattva addressed Chhandaka
“Tarry not, Chhandaka; bring me the noble horse duly caparisoned. All my blessings have attained maturity; verily my object will this day be accomplished.”
On hearing this, Chhandaka, with afflicted heart, thus replied ‘6 Whereto wilt thou proceed, O thou of expanded brow, of eyes rivalling the petals of the lotus; O thou lion among kings, (beau- tiful as) the fullmoon of autumn, as the white lily full blown by the moon ; thou of a face like the fresh-blown lotus, of reful- gence like purified gold, or the sun, or the moon without a mark; radiant as the sacrificial fire enlivened by clarified butter ; brilliant as the Mani jewel, or the lightning ; awe-inspiring like the maddened elephant; and of majestic motion like the cow, the bull, the lion, or the swan ?”
The Bodhisattva said,
For that for which I sacrificed my hands, feet, eyes, hand- some and dear wives, kingdom, wealth, gold, apparel, (1) `
^ Richly bejewelled elephants, and horses of mighty power and ‘valour, swift as the wind; for which [ cultivated good conduct,!* cherished forbearance, and assiduously applied myself to vigour, power, meditation, and knowledge, (2)
‘¢ For innumerable millions of eons; for coming into contact with the auspicious and peaceful Bodhi. The time has arrived for my redeeming mankind having bodies always subject to decay and death.” (3)
Chhandaka observed: “1 did hear, honoured sir, that imme-
CHAPTER XV. 281
diately on thy birth thou wast presented to astrologer Brah- mans for examination, and they addressed king Suddhodana, saying, ^ Lord, prosperity will attend thy royal race.’ The king asked, ‘How so?’ They replied, ‘This prince of a hundred auspicious marks has taken birth as your son; he is full. of the splendour of virtue. He will be a universal sovereign, the lord of the four continents, and master of the seven treasures. Should he, however, cast his eye on the afflicted world and, forsaking the inner apartments, go forth, he will obtain the 6014101 of the decayless and deathless Bodhi, and soothe mankind with the water of religion.’* But, listen, sir, to my wishes and desires. ”
The Bodhisattva asked, ^ What are they ? ”
He replied, ^ Lord, people undergo divers kinds of fasts and austerities, putting on skins on their body, matted hair on their crowns, and rags and bark for their apparel ; they allow their nails and hair and beard to grow long in different styles; they torture the flesh in their body in a variety of ways; they carry on rigor- ous fasts and austerities. And why so? (In the hope) ‘ we shall obtain the wealth of menand gods.’ Lord, thou hast already attained that wealth. [Thou art the master of| this wealthy, delightful, flourishing, peaceful kingdom, abounding in food and thickly populated ; these most excellent gardens, rich in various kinds of fruits and flowers, resonant with the voice of innumerable birds, having tanks decorated with blue, red and white lotuses and water-lilies, and resounding with the cry of geese, peacocks, koels, herons, sérasas, blooming 10 mangoes, as’okas, champakas, kuvalakas, sessamums, and saffron, planted along their banks,— gardens decorated with numerous jewelled arbours, with flower- beds formed like dice-boards, with jewelled seats interspersed, with jewelled networks hung above, and adapted for enjoyment in every season, replete with the pleasures of the summer, the rainy season, the autumn, and the winter. These lofty palaces are like the cloud
# In some MSS. a line occurs here, the purport of which is not clear, and so it has not been translated.
36
282 LALITA-VISTARA.
of autumn, like the lofty Kailés’a mountain, like Vaijayanta,'s or like the pure court of the gods; they are devoid of grief and annoyances; they are set off with covered courtyards, doors, gates, windows, chambers, pavilions, and turrets covered with networks set with jewelled bells, Such, lord, are the inner apart- ments; they are resonant with the music of the tunava, panava, vina, flute, sampwara, tadava, char4, kimpala, nakula, the sweet- sounding mridanga, and the drum,—with dancing, singing, joyous and charming concerts, with laughter, gestures, plays, and other enticing accomplishments. And thou, son of a god, art youthful; thou hast neither exceeded juvenescence, nor art considered young; with a soft body, fresh black hair, by no means passed the age of enjoyment. Therefore, do thou enjoy, like Indra of the thousand eyes, the lord of the immortals. After that we can retire.”
At that time this G4th4 was recited :-—
५ 0, thou, proficient in amorous enjoyments, enjoy even as does the lord of the immortals in the region of the three-times- ten; thereafter, having attained maturity, we shall commence fasts and penances.”’
The Bodhisattva said, ^ Verily, all these objects of enjoyment, Chhandaka, are transitory, fleeting, inconstant, and naturally changing ; passing away with the rapidity of a mountain torrent ; transient as dewdrops; sorrowful ; hollow as an empty fist ; weak as the trunk of the plantain tree; painful like unwholesome food ; like the autumn cloud now produced and now gone; transient as the lightning in the sky ; producing ultimate mischief like poison- ous food ; pain-producing as the méru-creeper ; [worthless] as the scribblings of persons of infantile sense ; comparable to bubbles on water ; naturally quickly changing ; like the illusion of a mirage ; arising from a perversion of cognizance ; comparable to illusions ; proceeding from perverseness of the mind ; comparable to dreams; derivable by acceptance through the perversion of vision ; full of suffering like the 868 $ exciter of thirst like salt water ; difficult of touch like the head of a serpent ; fit to be avoided by sages like a
CHAPTER XV, 283
great precipice; full of dangers, quarrels, faults and vices. Known as such they are avoided by the wise, condemned by the learned, censured by the respectable, shunned by the sensible, accepted by the senseless, and indulged in by the ignorant.”
At that time this 6६074 stanza was recited :
^ 0 be shunned by the sensible as the head of a serpent ; con- demnable as an impure pot of urine; knowing sensuous desires to be the destroyers of all (true) enjoyment, Chhandaka, I feel no sympathy for them . Then Chhandaka, like one pierced with a dart, crying with tearful eyes, full of sorrow, thus remarked
“Lord, for that for which some undergo manifold and rigorous fasts, have hairy skin, matted hair, long hair, long nails, long beard, and beggar’s garb; or, wearing bark, many with emaciated body betake to fasts, live upon herbs, coarse grains, nettles (Ovidea verticellata), holding their heads upwards, observe the penance of the cow", (1)
“‘Cherishing the hope ‘we shall hereby be the noblest, the pre-eminent, in this world, the highest emperors, the guardians of quarters, or S’akra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, or Yama, or the lords of the Devas, or of the Nirmitas, or dwell in the region of Brahma, the deviser of the felicity of meditation.’ (2)
** All that, thou, the noblest of men, hast at thy command. Thy kingdom is vast, rich, prosperous; thy gardens and pleasure-grounds and palaces are lofty as the Vaijayanta (palace of Indra). Thy female apartments are resounding with the’ sounds of the flute and the lute, with songs and music, with dancing and concerts, in well-trained harmony ;—enjoy these desirable objects, and depart not, O thou compassionate lord !”
The Bodhisattva said :
८ Chhandaka, listen ; hundreds of sufferings have been endured by me in my former existences,—fetters, imprisonments, beat- ings, menaces,—for sensuous objects, but they have not produced peace of mind. (1)
284 LALITA-VISTARA.
_ © Formerly, my pure mind was overcome by sensuous desires,
bewildered by delusion; my vision was blinded by film; these desires are the suppressors of the cognition of self, and the leaders to the path of pain. (2)
“They are produced by the want of knowledge of religion ; they are fickle, changing constantly like the cloud; they are like the lightning; they may be compared to dewdrops ; they are hollow, worthless, and unsubstantial; they have no soul; they are naturally void. (3)
“My mind takes no delight in such objects. Bring me, © Chhandaka, my noble charger, Kanthaka, duly caparisoned. Thereby may be accomplished my former aspirations. I shall now be the noblest of all, the lord of all religion, the sovereign of religion, the sage.” (4) |
Chhandaka said :
“ Forsake not these resplendent sleeping ladies, with eyes beautiful as the petals of a full-blown lotus ; these decorated with magnificent necklaces and jewels and precious stones; these (beings) brilliant as the lightning detached from the cloud in the sky. (1)
^^ प्ण do you think of abandoning concerts of the sweet- toned flute, the panava, the mridaftga and the varsa,—these sounding like the voice of the chakora and the kalaviftka as in the homes of the KinnarisP (2)
“The pleasing utpala, the autumnal champakas, the sweet- scented garlands of threaded flowers, the odorous incense and the excellent black frankincense; reject them not, nor the unguents and the vestments. (3)
“These viands, well dressed and of excellent flavour and taste, these beverages well mixed with sugar,—do not reject them. Lord, whereto are you going? (4)
“These excellent unguents, warm in winter and soothing in the summer, made of the uragaséra sandal-wood, these vestments of Benares, these excellent and charming clothings—reject them not. Lord, whereto are you going? (5)
CHAPTER XV. %88
‘These are the five(classes of) objects-of desire (dear) even to the greatest of the gods ; enjoy them, O master of the power of enjoyment! Afterwards you can retire to the forest, O noble S/akya!’’ (6) |
The Bodhisattva replied :
¢ For uncountable and endless eons have I, Chhandaka, enjoyed these sensuous objects of beauty, sound, odour, flavour, and tac- tion, of all the various kinds known to man; but I have not been gratified thereby. (1)
“By me, son of a noble king, sovereignty has been exercised over an empire comprising the four continents——an emperor lording over the seven jewels. I have had the fullest share of the pleasures of the female apartments. I have reigned over the lords of the three-times-ten, and of the Yamas. (2)
८८ Forsaking them, when I retired from here to the region of the Nirmitas, I enjoyed the proudest and the noblest of beauty; I exercised sovereignty over the lord of the Siras, and revelled in the richest objects of desire ; but I have not been gratified thereby. (3
‘¢ What satisfaction can I then this day derive by indulging in these worthless objects? I shall therefore, Chhandaka, abjure this painful world immersed in a wilderness of grief, (4)
८८ Always burning in the wild fire of pain, without shelter, without a future, in the dense darkness of delusion and ignorance, always oppressed by the fear of decay, disease and death, overcome by the pain of birth, and overpowered by enemies. (5)
“ Knowing this I shall embark on board the barque of religion, which is firm as adamant, and loaded with the cargo of penance, good behaviour, complaisance, vigour, (occult) power, benevolence; stout of back, which is made of the adamant of exertion, and stoutly bound together. (6)
“Going on board that vessel I shall first ferry myself over, and then shall I rescue countless beings from all worldly sins, and carry them across the ocean of grief, swelling with the billows of anger, infested by the sharks of passions and enemies, and difficult to pass over. This is my wish. (7)
286 LALITA-VISTARA.
_ ^ After ferrying me across this worldly ocean with its sharks of inimical desires and the cannibals of pain, I shall place the countless beings in the sky of peace, in decaylessness, and immor- tality.” (8)
On hearing this, Chhandaka wept bitterly, and then asked,
Ts this your unalterable resolve ? ” ~ The Boddhisattva replied, ^ Listen to me, Chhandaka, for the emancipation of beings, for their welfare, my resolve is fixed, unalterable, changeless, firm, and as immovable as the noble Meru mountain.”
Chhandaka enquired, ‘“‘ Lord, what may be your resolution ? ”
The Boddhisattva replied: ^“ Were the adamantine thun- derbolt, the battle-axe, the iron club, arrows and stones to fall in showers, were the lightning to lose its brightness, iron to melt into a fluid, were the crest of the mountain burning aglow to fall on my head, still the desire for home would not revive in me.”
At this moment the immortals, assembled in the sky, cast showers of flowers, and raised the joyous cry, “ Glory be to the Lord, the supreme owner of intelligence, who grants security to the world! Nothing can tinge the mind of the noble being, no more than can darkness, dust or meteors stain the sky; it can no more imbibe a desire for worldly pleasures than the new- blown lotus the clear water.”
Now, Bhikshus, the Devaputras S’éntamati and Lalitavyaha,'s having heard the firm resolve of the Bodhisattva, put to sleep the whole of the men, women, boys and girls of Kapilavastu, and suppressed every sound.
Now, Bhikshus, the Bodhisattva, perceiving that the inhabi- tants of the town were all asleep, that midnight had arrived, and that the lord of the stellar heaven was in the constellation Pushya,!* knowing, too, that the time for departure had arrived, thus addressed Chhandaka, ‘‘ Grieve not, Chhandaka; bring me Kanthaka duly caparisoned, and tarry not.”
No sooner was this speech delivered, than the four guardians of the quarters heard it, and forthwith they retired to their
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respective homes, and, performing the worship of the Bodhi- sattva in their chamber, quickly returned to the great city of Kapilavastu.
There, too, came from the east M4h4r6j4 Dhritardshtra, the lord of the Gandharvas, attended by innumerable hundreds of thousands of millions of followers, playing on various musical instruments. Arriving there, he circumambulated the great city of Kapilavastu, and, taking his position on the east side, stood saluting the Bodhisattva
From the south came the great king Viridhaka, attended by tens of millions of hundreds of thousands of Kumbhandakas, carrying in their hands many necklaces of pearls, and bringing jewels of various kinds, and pitchers full of scented waters of different descriptions. Arriving there, he cireumambulated the great city of Kapilavastu, and at the southern spot from which he’ had started on his circumambulation took his position, and stood saluting the Bodhisattva
In the same way from the west quarter came the great king Virtpaksha, attended by many tens of millions of hundreds of thousands of Nagas with numerous pearl necklaces, various kinds of jewels and aromatic powders, produced in the rainy season, and blowing zephyrs loaded with perfume. Arriving there, he circumambulated the great city of Kapilavastu, and at the spot on the west from which he had started on his cireumam- bulation, took his position, and stood saluting the Bodhisattva.
From the northern quarter came the great king Kuvera, attended by ten millions of hundreds of thousands of Yakshas bringing diamonds, jewels, and precious stones, and holding lamps and flambeaus in their hands, and armed with bows, swords, arrows, iron clubs, tomaras, tridents, discuses, kanayas,!” darts, and other offensive instruments, and protected by stout armour and mail-coats. Having arrived there, he cireumambu- lated the great city of Kapilavastu, and, coming to the spot from which he had started on his circumambulation, took his position on the north, and stood saluting the Bodhisattva.
288 LALITA-VISTARA.
S’akra, the king of the gods, also came, accompanied by the gods of the class Trayastrifis’at, bringing excellent flowers, pastilles, essences, flower garlands, unguents in powder, apparel, parasols, standards, pennants, and ornaments. Having arrived, he circumambulated the great city of Kapilavastu, and, coming to the spot from which he had started on his circumambulation, took his position with his companions in the sky, and remained saluting the Bodhisattva
Now, Bhikshus, Chhandaka, having heard the words of the Bodhisattva with tear-bedimmed eyes, thus addressed him ; ‘Venerable sir, thou knowest well the time, the moment, the opportunity ; this is not a fit time for departure. Now, what dost thou ordain ? ”
The Bodhisattva replied, ^ Chhandaka, this is the time.”
Chhandaka enquired, “ for what purpose is this the time ? ”
The Bodhisattva answered: “ For that for which I longed for ages,—for the salvation of mankind. I desired and longed that, after attaining the decayless and deathless rank of the Bodhi, I may rescue the world ; the moment for that has arrived.”
This is the law of religion.
On this subject it may be said :
“The gods of the earth and of the sky, as also the guardians, S’akra, the sovereign of the gods, and his suite, the Devas of the class Yama, as also the Tushitas, Nirmitas, Paranirmitas and Devas of other classes, (1)
Varuna, also Manasvi, the king of the Nagas, Anavat- tapta, Sdgara,—they all assembled to worship the noble being at the time of his departure. (2)
% Such of the Devas of the Rapavachara region, as were of peaceful conduct, and always devoted to meditation, also came in a body for the worship of the adored of the three regions, the noblest of men. (3)
“From the ten quarters came Bodhisattvas with their respec- tive suites who had formerly followed the (three) jewels, impelled by the desire—‘ we shall behold the departure of the Jina, and perform due worship.’ (4)
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